Legend of Zelda: Brotherhood
by DelphiniumBlu
Summary: After a series of strange events involving spacetime in a small blue box, Link, the young Hero of Time, and Edward Elric, a hotheaded alchemist, find themselves stranded on an Earth filled with the world's finest superheroes, where they are taken in by the last good cop of Gotham. They must team up to save both their new home and their old ones from a time old foe.
1. Prologue: We're not in Hyrule Anymore Ed

_This is a Legend of Zelda, Fullmetal Alchemist, DCU, and Doctor Who crossover staring Link and Ed, costarring Commissioner Gordon, with only slight Doctor Who. (The Doctor is only in the Prologue chapters and he makes no other appearances. He's more of a way to explain how they get where they're going. **You don't have to know anything about Doctor Who or the DCU to enjoy this story, only Legend of Zelda and Fullmetal Alchemist.** )_

 _This story is already close to completion, but I'll only be updating one chapter a week. There are parts where you'll find sections encased [like this]. These are summaries of what are supposed to be here but since this is a hobby, I didn't write those scenes. It's more than likely that by the time a chapter with [one of these] is posted, the scene will be finished anyway. But just in case, it's not a mistake, I meant to not do that._

 _Again, you do not have to know anything about Doctor Who or the DCU, only Legend of Zelda and Fullmetal Alchemist and really, you only need to know Fullmetal Alchemist, pretty much anything you need to know about Zelda ends up getting explained anyway but you have to have either read the FMA manga or watched Brotherhood to understand a lot of the things that will go down with Ed. This is because FMA is a Manga and LoZ is a video game. The whole of FMA is about Ed and his personal story. Link doesn't even talk so even if you have played Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, you'd still know just as much about Link's personal story as you would if you hadn't played those games._

 _Once more: **You**_ _ **do not need to know or even like Doctor Who or the DCU to enjoy this story. It's primarily a FMA and LoZ crossover!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **Prologue: I Have a Feeling We're not in Hyrule Anymore, Edward Elric**

* * *

Link had no idea where he was. This was rather common for the young boy since he's always traveling. His only companion and friend is the flaxen filly, Epona, whom he is normally riding. Epona was acting strangely, so Link had decided it was best to let her follow behind him rather than sit on her back and let her lead the way.

They had been walking down the road in a little village they had come across after getting lost in the woods from which no one had ever returned, browsing for supplies in shop windows, when a dark figure emerged silently from an alleyway, clamped a wet cloth soaked in a liquid that smelled pungently sweet over Link's mouth and nose and dragged the boy, kicking and screaming, into the darkness just as quietly as he had appeared. Epona, though not easily startled, reared, tripping on one of the many cobblestones that paved the road and sidewalk, falling to the ground with a sickening thud.

Link saw her fall and fear gripped his heart. He tried to break free and go to her but no matter how the boy struggled he couldn't get free from his captors hostage hold. Link's heart leapt into his throat and his stomach was full of cold knots. He tried to reach out to his injured companion, but his kidnapper pulled him away to quickly.

No one saw. No one came to help. All he could do was scream through the hand over his mouth as the world began to spin around him and until what little light remained faded away.

* * *

When Link woke, his head hurt like there was no tomorrow and he couldn't see very well. He was in a cell, but where the cell was he hadn't the faintest idea. He prayed that his horse was alright before opening his eyes and taking a look around.

The cell was made of metal, but the light was so bad he couldn't make out what color it was. The door looked like the door to a metal ship, with a bared circular window. No normal person would be breaking through that door. The ground beneath Link hummed and, though he couldn't see very well in the dim light, the light that did exist in this strange place glowed in an unnatural orange hue. Link decided to get to his feet and see if there was anyone guarding his cell. He wanted to ask what was going on, but when he tried to stand, he found that his hands were clamped to the wall by some sort of magic emanating from a metal bump in the wall above his head. To Link's wrists it felt like chains but to his eyes it looked like light made solid.

Link could tell Epona was nowhere to be found and he doubted that whoever had kidnapped him would have checked to make sure she was alright. Link felt the all to familiar sense of loneliness press down on him, almost suffocating him.

"How do I always end up in situations like this?" He lamented to himself, not intending for anyone to hear him.

"Tell me about it," another boy's voice echoed from across the hallway. It seemed Link was not the only one in such a strange predicament. The other boy's voice sounded hoarse, like he too had been drugged to sleep and woken up in the strange cell with a sore throat and a pounding headache.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" Link asked.

"Beats me," the other boy answered, confidence filled the boy's voice. He sounded much older than Link, but not quite old enough to be an adult yet. "You wouldn't happen to know what's going on, would you?" The other boy asked.

"No, I was hopping you'd know something," Link answered. There was just as much fear in his voice as there was confidence in his fellow prisoner's.

Link, though renowned where he came from as a hero of courage, amongst other things, felt fear fill his gut when he realized there was no way he'd get out of this without some outside help. There was no way he'd be able to muster that much confidence in an alien place so superior to anything else he had come against. And even if he could, he would be lost in a world that surpassed anything he had ever known.

"My name's Link," Link said.

"Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist," the other boy answer. He sounded preoccupied, though still over confident and a little brash. "You can call me Ed. Is there anyone who would want to kidnap you?"

"A few come to mind, yeah. You?"

"Same. What is this thing?" Ed wondered aloud. He seemed to be bound to the wall of his cell in a similar fashion as Link.

"No idea," Link grumbled.

The light shackles didn't look like something Link could get out of on his own.

Link was about to ask Ed the names of the people who would like to kidnap him, so that they could see if they both had a name in common, or maybe ask if Ed had seen Epona, when footsteps echoed down the hall Link assumed was on the other side of his cell door.

"Hey! Who's there!" Ed shouted angrily. He was much to loud for Link, but hey, to each his own special method of annoying the people you shouldn't annoy.

"Shut up, brat," a woman's voice, young, yet harsh, snapped impatiently from the other side of the door. From the head shaped shadow that blocked the steady, unnatural orange light from seeping into Link's cell, he could deduce that she was right outside of his cell.

"Hey, you kidnapped me! I deserve answers!" Ed shouted back. Link may not have had as much experience with being a prisoner since that last time he had been kidnapped he managed to escape within seconds, but he was certain that a captive wasn't supposed to bite the hand that could very well punch back.

"Uh, I don't think getting mad is a good idea right now," Link, though having not the privilege to see his new friend, still would feel a little guilty if anything happened to the other boy without him having at least tried to help him a little.

"I'll do what I want!" Ed shouted back. Link herd a loud clanking sound come from across the corridor from where Ed was and assumed that Ed was trying to get free from his ethereal bonds. "And I want to know who you are and why you've kidnapped us!"

"Silence, boy!" A resounding bang echoed through the dungeon or wherever they were. The woman had slammed a fist on Ed's door, effectively shutting him up. Link could feel the anger and hatred wafting from the other side of the door, though if it came from his fellow prisoner or from the woman, he couldn't tell.

"The All-Seer wishes for an audience with the prisoners." The woman addressed a guard who had remained silent until this point.

"Ma'am," he clicked his heals together respectfully and Link assumed he saluted before a click came from Link's door and it swung open, revealing a woman in dark robes holding a spear like cross bow thing the likes of which Link had never seen before. It was undoubtedly a weapon, but it didn't look like anything he had seen before. There was a blade like thing attached to the top made of the same light that held Link's arms firmly against the wall. It looked very ornamental, but still very deadly.

The woman entered Link's cell. She reached out and pressed her palm on the bump in the wall and the light faded away, releasing his arms. She pointed the not friendly end of her weapon at Link as he massaged his wrists that felt slightly burnt. He didn't dare make a move for his bag, if it was still there, everything around him was too threatening. It was best to play it safe. For now, anyway.

"Get up," the robed woman snapped.

She kicked at Link, who didn't manage to get out of the way in time to avoid getting hurt. He did manage to hold in his yelp of pain, though, so he still had that. He quickly got to his feet and walked out of the cell with the glowing black pressed lightly, but threateningly, against his back. The guard grabbed Link's arms and harshly twisted them behind his back, binding him with what felt like more solid light.

The corridor that Link found himself in was even stranger than the cell. It was bathed in the glowing orange light that came from strange sources embedded into the walls like torches or lamps but not like any Link had ever seen. Nothing Link found was anything he'd ever seen before and he couldn't put words on anything other than 'thing that could be potentially threatening'. Link didn't think now was a good time to ask for Epona, though he wanted to desperately.

"Help me with this one," the woman jerked her head towards the door across from Link's cell. "He'll be trouble if not properly restrained."

"Hey!" Ed shouted from his cell. "You'd better LET ME OUT!"

"Or what?" The woman looked slightly less confident when faced with the daunting task of dragging Ed out of his cell and to wherever this All-Seer was. Link couldn't help but wonder who this Edward Elric the Fullmetal Alchemist was to strike fear into this woman who probably didn't fear much. "You'll shout at me, boy?" She tried to sound more confident than she looked, though she was still holding a weapon and Ed was most likely chained to a wall in a dark cell, so she didn't need too much of a confidence boost. It was getting the other boy out of the cell without causing a huge ruckus that bothered her.

"I'll do worse than shouting, lady," Ed all but snarled.

"If you do not cooperate, you spoiled little dog," the woman snarled back through the barred window. "You're little friend here will get a bullet in the head. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"

"Damn you," Ed grumbled. "That's low."

Link didn't know what a bullet was, but he assumed that it wasn't good and came from her weapon. When the robed woman decided that Ed would willingly let himself get dragged along with Link, she entered the cell and removed him from the wall, putting him in more portable restraints. She led him into the corridor while the other guard grabbed Link's upper arm and pressed a smaller weapon against Link's temple.

Edward Elric was wearing red. He had a big traveling cloak that was bright red, like fresh blood or the bird on Link's Hylian Shield. Link's sword and shield had been confiscated when he had awoken, he realized. Under the very red cloak Ed wore a black coat with white trim, leather pants with a red belt, black combat boots with red soles, and white gloves. His hair was golden blond and shone bright in the orange light and his eyes, the same golden color of his hair, blazed with anger and arrogance. He didn't seem to be taking well to Link being threatened at Ed's own fault. He was about a foot taller than Link and looked about seven years older as well.

"How old are you, kid?" Ed asked. Link didn't like being called a kid, but he'd let the angrier boy get away with for now. Neither of them were in a position to argue with anyone.

"Ten or eleven, I don't remember," he answered, uncomfortable under the pressure of the guard's choking grip on his arm and the cold press of metal from the man's weapon. "Or know, really."

"Let him go," Ed ordered the woman. "He's just a kid."

"You will both stop your chatting and come with me," she shoved Ed forward down the corridor at the point of her weapon and Ed begrudgingly let himself get lead by her as the guard dragged Link, still hostage, behind them.

The woman lead them through a corridor that was more brightly lit than the dungeon area. The orbs of light in this area were bright white or pale blue and the metal walls were white and black with a few blue and red lines indicating things in a script Link couldn't distinguish, not that he could distinguish many.

After walking through at least two different well lit corridors they were shoved into a smaller room that had light glowing through thin windows that moved up and down. Since they came out in what looked like a reception hall, Link assumed the room moved with some sort of magic that he couldn't explain. Everything was so strange here, but Ed seemed to understand slightly what was going on. At least, more than Link did.

The hall was vast and very high up. The massive windows showed a glorious night sky that Link did not recognize, and though an unfamiliar night sky was a common sight for Link, the fact that there was no sight of land made Link shiver. The interior of the hall was made from the same metal as outside but the lights were orange again, giving the room an unearthly glow. An elevated throne rose above the reception hall and a shriveled old man lay on it. He was much too old to do anything but lay on his death bed, which was, in this case, a throne in a hall suspended in the night sky. Quite the place to go down fighting but Link didn't feel like going down just yet.

"Who are you?" Ed asked as they were led closer and closer to the shriveled old creature. "Where are we? What do you want with us?"

"You will be silent in the presence of the All-Seer, impertinent brat!" The woman jabbed her light blade into Ed's back, not hard enough to impale him, but hard enough to leave a brunt bruise and shove him to his knees. Link's guard also shoved his charge to his knees and removed the weapon from against Link's temple, but the boy could still feel the weapon aimed at his head.

"I will answer your questions in hopes that you will be wise enough to answer mine," the shriveled old All-Seer wheezed from his metal throne. "Who are we? We are the Oracles of the Seven Systems and I am its head. Where are you? You are on our star ship, so that we may contain you better. What do we want with you, my dear boy?" He chuckled like a dying old person. "We want nothing from you at all."

"Then let us go," Ed snarled. "Right now."

"And where will we let you go to, child?" The All-Seer chuckled again. He seemed amused by Ed's anger. "We are in the depths of space. There is nowhere for you to go to but to the void of darkness in between the stars."

"I don't understand," Link whined, his mind trying desperately to grasp the old man's words and give them meaning. "How can we be in the sky? Are we in heaven?"

"Ah, I seem to have forgotten that one of our hostages is from a world that has not yet invented science fiction, let alone space travel. You must be very lost, child."

"Some one explain," Link hated how lost he sounded, but he felt his world spiraling away again. Like when he had been kidnaped and drugged. Nothing had made sense, but now it made even less sense. Sure, there were stars in the sky, but only birds could fly and not even they could get so high that they would be on the same level as the stars. Were they inside some giant metal bird that could go between the lights? "Please, what do you mean space? What does that mean?"

"My dear boy," the All-Seer waved a boney, aged hand to the window. "The light you see in the night sky are out there. All around us. Your home is but one of the many lights. We are, so to speak, in the space between worlds and your's is but one of many. Surely your precious Doctor would have already explained this, no?"

"I don't know who you're talking about," Link exasperated. "You mean the Astronomer in Clock Town? Dr. Shikashi?"

As soon as the words left Link's mouth a monk with his hood up entered the room. He didn't seem to be expected because both the woman and the guard almost threatened him with their weapons before noticing he was dressed like them.

"You know exactly who the All-Seer is taking about, boy," the woman snarled. "Don't act dumb. We can see right through it. We all know you know the Doctor!"

"Doctor who?" Both boy's asked at the same time.

The hooded monk was right behind them now.

"Doctor me!" He shouted, removing his hood, revealing a young man who couldn't have been more than ten years older than Ed, at the most. "Okay, I'm never saying that again."

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 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	2. Prologue: I'm the Doctor

_Thank you all for your reviews!_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **Prologue: I'm the Doctor**

* * *

The Doctor had windswept brown hair and his green-hazel eyes shone with a madness and wonderment that had to be beyond his age. Both guards raised their weapons at the doctor man, but before they could fire, he brandished a metal, wand like instrument and pointed it at the ceiling. A buzzing noise like a thousand metal bees filled the room and the lights went out. Link felt the restrains on his wrists disappear and heard two clangs before a strong hand gripped his upper arm and dragged him backwards. It wasn't like being lead by the guard to the All-Seer or getting kidnaped by the dark figure. It was like being unexpectedly dragged to safety.

"Stop them!" The All-Seer croaked. "They must not reach the Accursed World or the universe as we know it shall end! No good can come if they escape! I have foretold a misfortune in their near future. It must be stopped! Seize them! Kill them! Do anything to prevent their escape!"

"That doesn't sound good, now does it?" The Doctor whispered to himself as he lead the two boys to the safety of his TARDIS that was parked in the elevator. The lights came on and the two armed guards raised their weapons and began shooting at them. The man, who was undoubtedly the Doctor, exclaimed nervously and pushed his two new charges in front of him and out of danger.

"What do we do?" Ed hissed quietly from next to Link, both asking for instructions and thinking out loud.

"RUN!" The Doctor shouted.

The man was a little too gleeful for being in a life or death situation. Link was terrified. Bolts of light ricocheted around the room, nearly hitting them. The Doctor pointed his glowing metal stick at the doors to the small room and buzzed it, opening the door from ten feet away revealing a blue wooden box just sitting there. The Doctor snapped his finders together, which opened the doors to the box so the he and the two boys could run in without slowing down to open them.

When they were safe inside the box, the Doctor swaggered in front of the two boys with a huge grin on his face. "Go ahead, say it." He prompted cheerfully. "I love hearing it."

"It's bigger on the inside," Link stated, not at all impressed, but it was the obvious thing to say and if the Doctor liked to hear it, Link would indulge him.

The box was indeed bigger on the inside. The interior was dark with an unnatural silver glow and a hollow glass column in the middle of the room that lead up to a spinning fixture on the ceiling. At its base was what looked like an oddly shaped table with all sorts of nobs, buttons, and levers in designs that Link had never even imagined, let alone seen before. In the back of the room were two sets of stairs, one that went up to what Link assumed were more rooms and another that went down into what looked like a closet, a wardrobe, and the lower level of the entrance room. Link just assumed the man who had saved them from the All-Seer and his scary, probably violent right hand woman was a wizard who was using some sort of powerful magic to make the blue box a portal to another dimension. Ed, on the other hand, was a man of science and numbers. For him, magic was not an option.

"It's another dimension, smashed into a small space, right?" Ed crossed his arms, trying to look unimpressed but the poorly contained smirk of wonderment betrayed him.

With a snap of his fingers, the Doctor closed the door.

"TARDIS, Time and Relative Dimensions in Space, yeah. How'd you guess?" The Doctor closed in on Ed and practically pressed his forehead against Ed's. He had to lean down a little to do so because of the height difference.

"I'm kind of a genius," Ed didn't back away, though he did straighten his back a little to seem taller. He might have also leaned on the top of his toes as well.

"I was thinking that, too," Link said quietly, wondering if he'd gone unnoticed, which wasn't unusual. "I just didn't say it out loud."

"Well, there's no other explanation. Magic just doesn't exist. And whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," Ed said knowingly.

At this Link became confused. He lived in a world of magic. To say magic didn't exists would be like saying the sky is green, which it normally wasn't. But Link didn't vocalize his objections. Speaking didn't always end up well with him.

When the Doctor was satisfied with his staring contest with the young man, he straightened his back and looked over both boys, checking to make sure no one had gotten hurt in the mad dash to the box-that's-bigger-on-the-inside. Once he was satisfied with that, he smiled apologetically at Link and Ed before wringing his hands together and them putting them down eagerly on the table in the center of the room. He looked up at Link and Ed with the same apologetic expression painted on his face.

"I'm sorry, boys." He chuckled. "They seem to think you know me. Unless you do and we haven't met yet."

"I've never seen you before in my life," Ed said.

Link shrugged in agreement. He didn't recognize this 'Doctor' person either and he would remember someone like that. He had a very good memory, most of the time.

Ed crossed his arms and glared at the Doctor accusingly. "I can't say I ever want to see you again. It's your fault we've been kidnapped, isn't it?"

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that," the Doctor sounded genuinely sorry that he got two young boys in trouble for knowing someone they didn't know. "I suppose I should get you two back home. Where is home?"

"Amestris," Ed said.

"Hyrule," Link said over him.

"Really?" The Doctor said. "You look related. Are you sure you're from so far apart. How'd they get both of you at the same time? Hyrule and Amestris are really far apart. Extremely far apart. They're not even in the same universe most of the time. Admittedly, Hyrule moves around a bit but it's never been close to Amestris. Though Amestris is in this universe, and I might have been a little careless with the preservation of temporal and inter-dimensional barriers around here, which would make it easier for Hyrule to move to this sector. Still, Hyrule shouldn't have been near here, let alone accessible under normal circumstances. And so close to here, so close to me. I'm assuming you both got abducted relatively close to the same time. It would be impossible to get from Amestris to Hyrule in the time their records claimed they did without time travel, which I check for before hand."

"So can you get me home?" Ed confronted after he decided that the Doctor had ranted long enough. "Because I was doing something important before I GOT ABDUCTED BY ALIENS!" He raised his voice as he got progressively more impatient.

Link winced at the loud noise but the Doctor didn't notice and was staring intently at the monitor he had pulled over from his left. He didn't find the time to explain that he wasn't in Hyrule when he had been abducted and could have easily been in some small village in Amestris but in the din of the Doctor's ranting and Ed's shouting, he couldn't make his small voice heard. Ed was much too angry for the Doctor to afford paying attention to the quieter boy, lest Ed bite his head off in his distraction.

If anything could have irked Ed more, it was what the man did next. He looked down at Ed and Link and frowned like he was trying to compleat an impressively difficult mathematical equation. He reached over and patted both of their head and nodded thoughtfully.

"I said, GET ME HOME! DAMMIT!" Ed stamped his foot, making a resounding noise reverberate around the console room. He was throwing a tantrum, though Link, who had a casual and laid back personality, couldn't see why Ed was being so adamant. The Doctor would take them home in his own time, Link was sure. He felt like he was a trustworthy person.

"I'm trying to get you home!" The Doctor snapped at Ed but he didn't look him in the face. Instead, he looked away from the screen and started switching levers and twisting nobs. "That lever thingy right there, if you would." He pointed at something and Link, who was closer, pulled the little switch like he was told and the whole room lurched, sending him toppling into Ed, who managed to catch both of them and maintain an upright position.

"What are you trying to do? Kill us!" Ed snapped.

"You're so loud and impatient!" The Doctor complained. "Calm down."

"What's happening?" Link whimpered. He clutched onto Ed and his hands didn't want to let go of the older boy's bright red coat. "What's going on? Please, someone explain."

"What year is it?" The Doctor said quietly to Link. It was hard to hear over the wheezing emanating from all around them.

"1284 AFH," Link answered, confused. "After the Founding of Hyrule. It's the Era of Peace, I guess."

"Ah," the Doctor nodded knowingly. "Then there's no way they could have nabbed you from the year 1915 CE Amestris time because those two times are two thousand years apart."

"Time travel, so?" Link nodded, recognizing and grasping onto the familiar words. "That I understand. So we're in the future? I guess that's easier to grasp and I suppose very understandable."

"You understand time travel?" Ed looked down at the young boy who had a vice grip on his favorite coat. "That's ridiculous. The amount of energy that would theoretically be required to travel faster than one second per second is astronomical and that's ignoring the calculations for traveling backwards."

"And you don't believe in magic, too!" Link retorted quietly.

"Well, the understanding of the universe evolves differently wherever you go. Anyway, who are you two?" The Doctor asked when the room finally came to a halt.

"Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist!" Ed snapped like it was obvious and that the Doctor should be impressed. The Doctor nodded like he had known who Ed was the whole time and was not impressed.

"Link," Link managed to let go of Ed and gather himself.

"Link what?"

"I…" Link opened his mouth to say something but closed it just as quickly and looked down at his feet. "I'm an orphan. I don't know who my parents were, just that they died. I don't have a last name."

"Do you have a title?" The Doctor asked, not sounding too unsympathetic.

"Hero of Time, I guess," Link whispered.

"You guess?" The Doctor was suddenly doing his staring thing to Link, who gasped quietly and couldn't hold the man's gaze for more than a few seconds. "The Hero of Time, you guess? That's fantastic! Amazing! You were supposed to have died when you were ten. Why aren't you dead?"

"I never really died," Link looked confused. One look at Ed told Link that the Fullmetal Alchemist was confused, and a little jealous. "I just left Hyrule through the Lost Woods with my horse, Epona."

"Oh!" The Doctor pulled away and smacked his forehead. "Of course you did! Now I see! That's excellent! You fell through a rift in the Lost Woods and ended up…"

"In Termina," Link said. "I stopped the moon from falling." Ed looked confused again. "I stayed there for about a month. I left a few days ago through the Termina end of the Lost Woods but it didn't lead back home." The Doctor looked concerned for a second but quickly replaced it with a mask of excitement.

"And that's how you ended up in Amestris! That's also how they managed to kidnap both of you! But why you two. Two children…" Both boys indignantly protested to being called children but the Doctor ignored them "…When there are dozens, if not hundreds, of people whom I actually know. If they were going to kidnap someone to get to me then why not take Clara or Sarah Jane or Martha."

"If you're done listing your girlfriends who would have been better hostages," Ed snapped. "Why not think about the creepy old Yoda man's prophecy. It involved us specifically. Not that I believe in prophecies or whatever." Ed clarified.

"They are not girlfriends and I was just getting to that. It's still 'why you?' Why not Clara. I take her out on Wednesdays for fish and chips on Mars," He clapped his hands and rocked back and forth as if nothing was cooler than fish and chips on Mars with Clara-Who-Wasn't-His-Girlfriend. "Is there anything special about you two?"

"I'm a state Alchemist," Ed snapped. "I'm pretty much extremely important."

"I'm nothing special really," Link looked down at his feet again. Though the future and time travel were okay by him, it was still a little much to wrap his head around.

"Of course you are, everyone's special," the Doctor pulled Link into a hug, causing Link to reach for a small hidden blade on his belt. It took him a moment to realize that it was hug and not a strangle hold. "Especially you."

"What about me?"

"What about you?" The Doctor asked. "No really." The Doctor pulled out his metal wand thing and metal bee buzzed Ed up and down, then did the same to Link. "Anything inter-dimensional for you, Edward?"

"Ed," The blond corrected. "And that's none of your business."

"You've done something stupid and you repeated it more than once," the Doctor deduced. "What did you do to loose those limbs, Edward." Link gave Ed a startled look. It was not obvious at first glance that Ed was missing limbs, or second or third, for that matter. He seemed whole to Link.

"None of your damn business, old man," Ed snarled.

"More than twice, even. Why? What would drive you to risk losing body parts multiple times. Humans are normally so self-preserving. What was so important you would go through that four times?"

"My little brother," Ed's angry words were so quiet Link almost didn't know what he had said. "I made a mistake and I fixed it. So it's none of your damn business."

"Even if it isn't," the Doctor said. "That's what made them think you had traveled with me. It was the third time that made you stand out. Only someone like me'd be stupid enough to do something like that. Especially if it was for someone else. And Link is an experienced time traveler, though I condone your methods of redoing."

"But I needed way more than three days to wake up four giants and stop a crazy mask!" Link protested, not noticing the confused look on the Doctor's face. "And it's not my fault. Princess Zelda wanted me to have the chance to relive the childhood I lost. She wasn't very wise for a Hero of Wisdom. It's impossible go back to being a child after everything that happened." Link's voice got progressively quieter and quieter as he explained what had happened. "Especially when you're going back to being the homeless orphan whom no one cares about. At least when I was sixteen everyone respected me." Link looked up, ashamed of his angry words. "But it's the thought that counts and I'm grateful!" He stated. Ed snorted with amusement, earning a short lived glare.

"You're really naïve," Ed laughed. "Are you sure you aren't reliving your childhood? Because you're pretty childish."

"I am not!" Link shouted as his face flushed. "I'm manly."

"You're adorable," Ed corrected. Link couldn't help but smile because he knew perfectly well he was far from manly. Especially at his age and scrawniness. He was more of a munchkin than a big manly man.

"Well," the Doctor, who hadn't lost his own childish grin the whole time, once again waved his hands about his head and started. "If you two are done bickering, I've got to get you both home. Preferably in one piece. Well, whatever pieces are left, in Edward's case."

"It's just Ed," Ed snapped. "And I find that offensive."

By now, both Link and Ed learned to grab onto the railings as the Doctor started spinning things and pulling levers, moving his TARDIS to one of their homes.

"Amestris, year 1916. Sorry about the small jump, but I didn't want to overlap your…" The Doctor walked over to the TARDIS doors but when he flung the doors open he immediately stopped talking and walking. "That's not right." He muttered. Quickly, he ran back to the middle of the room and once more started to look at the panel. Outside the door was empty space.

"What's wrong?" Ed asked. "What is it? Tell me, dammit!"

"Amestris is gone," the Doctor said. "Just vanished. Poof! Never existed."

"EXCUSE ME!" Ed shouted. "What do you mean IT'S VANISHED! Planets don't just vanish over a course of a few months!"

"It's not a matter of months, Edward," the Doctor said. Ed corrected him once more but he ignored him once more as well. "But a matter of it never having existed in the first place."

"If my planet's gone," Ed said, slowly and angrily. "Then how am I here?"

"Because when the anomaly happened, you were on the TARDIS and that protected you. Think food preservative, but it's nothing like that."

"So where is it‽" Ed snapped. "What happened?"

"I don't know," the Doctor said. "But I think something's eating planets and Amestris was on it's menu."

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	3. Prologue: Bigger on the Inside

_Thank you all for your reviews!_

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **Prologue: Bigger on the Inside**

* * *

"Can't you bring it back‽" Ed shouted. "My brother was on that planet! Bring it back!"

"I can't. If I could I would have without even telling you it was gone!" The Doctor was running around the column flipping switches. "I'm trying to find it right now but…"

"But what?"

"There's no trail," the Doctor said. "It's completely cold. Not even the TARDIS can pick it up on any frequency. It seems to have fallen through a gap in reality. No! That can't be it. I fixed those and there's no rift recorded near here that's large enough to swallow a whole solar system, let alone a planet."

"It took the whole solar system!" Ed gasped. "The moon, the sun, the other planets‽"

"That's what my sensors are telling me. There should be a solar system here but there isn't." The Doctor was still running around. Link decided he would just sit down in the only chair in the room and wait for the Doctor to sort Ed out patiently.

"Maybe you're just in the wrong place," Ed suggested. He started to calm down, but Link wasn't sure if a quite Ed was a good Ed.

"I'm not in the wrong place, I've checked that reading at least ten times already," the Doctor snapped. He looked at another scanner thing and frown. "I just checked again. Nothing. Amestris and the entire Alchimia-7 system has just stopped existing." Both Ed and the Doctor grew silent. Their argument over the integrity of Ed's missing home had reached a bitter end.

"What about Hyrule?" Link asked over the tangible silence.

"Ah, yes, well," the Doctor smiled kindly, but it didn't make Link feel better. "Hyrule is a pocket dimension. Little bit tricky. The only way to Hyrule would be through a rift, like the one you probably stumbled on in the Lost Woods that took you to Amestris. Those are extremely hard to find. We'll probably find the right one eventually."

"Is Epona okay?" Link asked timidly, afraid of the answer.

"I don't know what happened to your horse," the Doctor said. "Why do you care so much? She's just a horse, plenty of those."

"She's all I have since Navi disappeared," Link looked down. Saying out loud that Navi had left him purposefully was too painful, so he just pretended that her absence was accidental. Navi abandoning him after everything she helped him with was like a blow to the stomach. He had grown to see her as an older sister or even a mother and then she left and it felt like she took his heart with her.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said. He sounded like he was walking on glass, afraid that one wrong move and he would send Link into a deep fit of despair. "I will look for Epona, but I can't promise anything."

"And you can't get me home?" Link whispered.

"Not at the moment, no," the Doctor was relieved that Link had a quiet demeanor. Probably because Ed was so loud and adamant. The two felt like polar opposites to the ancient time traveler, though Link's deep sadness seemed to rub his in the wrong way.

"That's fine. I didn't really fit in anyway," Link was still looking down quietly.

"No, it's not fine," the Doctor sighed. "I should be able to get both of you home immediately. I promise I will do my best to get Alchemia-7 back and get you home. Or my name isn't the Doctor! Well, my name isn't actually the Doctor, that would be ridiculous! But that's not the point. I'm going to get you home. Cross my hearts. I don't want another one of those airport incidents." The Doctor crossed two places on his chest. One on the right and one on the the left.

"So," Ed said, crossing his arms. "Now what?"

"Now what, indeed," the Doctor said.

* * *

Link lay on a bed in the room the Doctor had given to him, hoping beyond hope that Epona was alright and that, despite the distance he had travelled from home, he might still find Navi and she wouldn't leave him again. Link decided to distract himself from the sad thoughts by memorizing his room, though it wasn't much to look at.

The room was plain, white, and boxy and he didn't like it very much. Link stared at the ceiling, wondering about how his life had been full of excitement but now suddenly everything was stranger that he could have ever imagined. His life might have been full of confusing things, but this took the cake.

As he found his thoughts returning to his lost friends and family despite his best efforts, the walls of his room started to turn forest green and curve in on themselves, converging in the center of the ceiling. The ceiling started to disappear and was replaced by a sky littered with pouffy cotton clouds. Tree branches creeped up, filtering the sunlight that peaked through the gaps in the ceiling between the top of the room. The air, previously undetectable, filled with the smell of trees and mulch and wild flowers.

The door to the hallway was the only thing that stayed the same. Link sat up in his bed as he felt the bed change under him as well. It had been hard and gray, but now he watched in awe as the blanket molted from its previous off-white to a rich green that not only matched the walls, but also his cloths. He felt himself sink in a little as the mattress became soft. A wooden door appeared where the closet door had been and it looked suspiciously like a front door.

Link hopped off the bed, and reached for the door knob. On the other side was the a huge, strange forest. Link could see the walls of his room expanding, making the forest larger. To the left, the walls expanded into a deep, refreshing, inviting deciduous forest. To the right the forest thinned and gave way to a lake nestled in the trees. Near the building that was his room were two oak trees, tall and old. They hadn't been there a few moments ago. Hanging between them was a hammock made of off-white and TARDIS blue ropes. On the side of the little green hut, where the door to the rest of the TARDIS should have been, was a plain wall, as if the door didn't exists.

Link quickly returned to the hut and looked at the gray door. He pushed it open to the hallway. On the other side was Ed's room and down the hall to the right was the control room with the console and screens and the captain's chair and everything that the Doctor had named for the confused boy who had never even heard of science-fiction.

Link scampered across the hall to Ed's room and knocked gingerly on the door. He didn't want Ed to get mad at him, in case he was sleeping. But he had to show someone what his drab room had suddenly turned into and Ed was the closet person.

"Ed?" Link said. "You've got to see this!" Link eagerly called for the older boy.

Ed opened the door. He had taken off his traveling coat, his black and white jacket, and his shoes and socks. All he had on was his black leather pants and his black sleeveless shirt. Link was met with the stark realization that Ed was indeed missing his right arm and left leg. Where a flesh arm should have been was an armor-like replica and where his left foot was there was another metal replica. They moved just like their meaty counterparts, so Link tried not to stare at them.

"What?" Ed said. He sounded like he had been taking a nap.

"My room!" Link pointed to his room. "It turned into a forest and a lake and the door is really weird and you gotta see!" Link said really fast. He hoped he didn't mess up any of the words because Ed looked at him like he was crazy.

"Come on!" Link exclaimed.

Link grabbed Ed's left arm, avoiding the metal one in case he pulled too hard and it fell off. Link dragged Ed into his room. As Link opened the door he was worried for a moment that it would look gray and drab now that he had someone to show it too, but it was still exactly the way he had left it. A round green hut in the middle of a forest.

"Damn, wasn't this room square and gray?" Ed asked.

"Yes, but it turned into this in seconds. I was just thinking about how boring it was but now it's huge!" Link dragged Ed outside to show him the forest and the lake and the oak trees and the hammock. "It's just like home!"

"Why didn't my room change?" Ed asked. He sounded jealous that Link was getting all the attention.

"Maybe it did," Link suggested. "But it changed when you came in here and you missed it."

Ed nodded thoughtfully and both boys went to see if Ed's room had changed. When they got back to the older boy's room, they were stunned to see that it too had transformed in the time it had taken Link to show Ed how cool his room was.

The room, which was just as drab as Link's had been, was now a huge, spiraling stone tower full of books with titles Link couldn't read. Where Ed's bed had been was now a gothic metal bed with red sheets and the symbol that was on Ed's coat. A metal gothic coat stand was placed next to the door with Ed's red coat hanging from one of the pegs. Stairs with books shoved under the steps spiraled up the tower to the top where there was a trap door. It only took one glance between the two to send them run up the stairs to see what was at the top of the tower.

Ed went first because it was his room and Link scampered after him. Both boy's gasped. The top of the tower was a glass dome. On the other side of the dome was a magnificent view of the night sky. In one corner, near the trap door, was a fireplace and a comfy chair with a lamp behind it. A place to read the many books in the tower below.

"Damn," Ed whispered.

The night sky was brilliant and the room was exactly what he wanted the most. He didn't even realize that until he was standing right there in a library full of books about alchemy and chemistry and every kind science in the universe in languages that he didn't even know but was dead set on learning. And the observatory was brilliant.

"We should ask the Doctor about this," Link said. "I mean, normal rooms don't just go from gray to amazing, even if this place is magic."

Ed just nodded, still in a daze, not even bothering to correct Link that magic didn't exist. The pull of the books was like gravity. He had to start reading them. Link was getting a similar vibe from his room. He wanted to explore the forest and fish in the lake. But they needed to confront the Doctor first.

* * *

They found the Doctor sitting in a hammock-like chair under the console in the control room. He had mechanic's goggles on and was tinkering with wires. He hadn't shown them where his room was, promising to give them a good proper tour once they had settled into their rooms. They didn't realize what he had meant by 'settle in' until they had seen what their rooms had turned into. One look at the hammock, though, and both boys doubted that he had a bedroom of his own, or at least not one that he used anymore. He looked like his dream bedroom was this console room. He was at home amongst all the bits and pieces that made his wonderful, fantastical life a reality.

"What the hell?" Ed cut right to the chase.

"Ah, I see you've settled in then, hmm?" The Doctor smiled, removing the goggles and focusing at them. "What'd she give you?"

"She?" Both boys asked.

"The TARDIS. She's a life form of sorts. A bio-ship. She's also telepathic."

"Your ship was in our heads?" Ed sounded angry and impressed at the same time. Link decided that Ed got angry a lot.

"In a good way," the Doctor reassured them. "She'll also translate most alien languages. Some of them translate horribly, though, so you'll have to muck your way through those."

"Okay," Ed said. "So what happened with our rooms?"

"Well, normally it takes us a few hours to decide what room to give people, but I think I've got you down pretty good. I was just scrolling through the options she pulled up for you two. Like them?"

"It's amazing!" Link smiled. He felt at home in his room. He had never truly felt at home anywhere.

"Where'd all the books come from?"

"Ah, you've noticed all of them?" The Doctor leapt out his hammock and pulled off the goggles. "Well, the books, like the rooms, are preset and programmed into the TARDIS. I've got a larger library with every topic you'll ever need that I'll show you later. Cookbooks, children's stories, fairy tales, prophesy almanacs, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, books that are one of a kind and not programmed into the database, the liquid History of Gallifrey. I just selected all the science books that wouldn't be to advanced for you. I've got a lot of science books."

"No science book it to advanced for me," Ed boasted. He practically puffed up like a red bellied frog when he talked about his scientific aptitude.

"You won't be so sure when you try to comprehend advanced temporal theory. I had trouble with those and that was just pre-academy school!" The Doctor put a hand on each boys' shoulder. "Now, you'll want the tour, you know, just in case you're here for a while. Do no good if you get lost. I even get lost in here sometimes."

The Doctor lead them down the hallway, past the bedroom doors, and past another door with the symbol for men's bathroom. The door was at the end of the hall and hallway branched off two ways, to the left and to the right.

"The door at the end of the hall to your bedrooms are the bathrooms. But that's obvious, isn't it?" The Doctor patted the stick figure man and smiled, rocking on his feet. "The door shows a man for boys and a woman for girls or just whatever you prefer and it will give each person a separate bathroom, matching your room, if you go in at different times."

Once he was done explaining how the bathroom worked, he took off down the hall and went to the right. There were two more doors in this hallway. One right across from the other.

"This side is the living room, movie nights!" He sounded excited as he pointed to the door on the left. "And video games. I've got all the Nintendo consoles and games but you shouldn't play any of them, Link. Might get a little awkward!"

Neither Link nor Ed knew what a video game was and poor Link was left in the dark about movies as well, not to mention what Nintendo was.

"This is the kitchen and dining room," the Doctor said. "But we'll probably eat out since I'm rubbish at anything that isn't fish custard, omelets, or pasta. On the other end of this hall is the pool and the library. I used to have them in the same room. Not a good idea. The books all fell into the pool and I had to extract the Liquid Wikipedia from the pool water. Not fun." The Doctor frowned. "Don't wander off past those doors."

Ed developed a mischievous glint in his eyes at the mention of restricted areas.

"I mean it, Edward. You could get lost for days and die of starvation. Just ask Clara, she got lost once, miracle we found her in a few hours, I thought it'd take three days. Wandering off in here is not fun. If the room is not the five I've shown you, do not go in them. There are things that will kill you of you aren't carful."

"Good guys don't have those kind of things on their space ships," Ed crossed his arms accusingly.

"You should see Batman's collection of his enemies gadgets. It's full of all kinds of things you shouldn't take out of the cases and he's the best good guy who ever lived. I've just collected things that are too dangerous for the outside world and kept them in here so no one uses them to blow up the universe. Do not touch them."

"Do you have a room?" Link asked.

"Yes," the Doctor answer. "No. I don't use it anymore. To many… memories." An ancient and fresh pain filled the depth behind his eyes. He smiled but he looked sad. Old and sad and like he was carrying a burden that was heavy and ancient.

"Are you married?" Link asked. He wasn't sure why he asked that particular question, but he did. And he regretted his word the moment they left his mouth.

The Doctor turned form melancholy to furious in a mater of seconds. He rounded on Link, a fire of burning passion in his eyes. His eyes were cold and vengeful and full of sorrow and love and a burning longing that could not be quenched. Link took a step back but Ed stood in front of him, trying to protect the smaller boy from the oncoming storm that was the Doctor made angry. The words had triggered an hurt in both of the Doctor's hearts. It reopened a wound that had long been shut off to the world.

"S-Sorry," Link almost started crying.

He was so terrified of this sudden change in the childish, fun loving puppy of a man. One moment, Link was confused as to how such a boisterous man could make people tremble at the mere mention of him, and the next he fully understood what drove fear like a stake into his enemies hearts. To have such anger directed at him froze him to the spot.

"I'm sorry, I didn't… Didn't… I… I…" Link fumbled and tripped over his words and wrung his hands nervously.

Ed looked more terrified than angry, which was a strange look for him, but he still made a defiant barrier between this wall of anguish and fury and the small, nervous child it had created.

As soon as the Doctor realized that he was scaring his two newest companions, he turned away and rubbed his hands through his wild hair. He looked deflated, defeated, and sadder than before.

"No, Link," he choked. He was on the verge of tears himself. "I'm sorry I frightened you. It's just…" he ran his hands through his hair once more and started to go towards the console room. He did not want to be followed.

The moment he was out of sight both boys relaxed and let out a breath they didn't know they had been holding in. Link was hit by the sudden realization that he was in a box that was bigger on the inside that could look into his head and rearrange things and under the power of a man he knew nothing about. He didn't even know this man's name or where he was from. He only had hints as to why he was so sad and full of rage.

"What's his problem?" Ed asked. His voice was quiet, which threw Link off as to who had spoken, his new friend or someone else entirely.

"I think he's lost," Link said. "Like us, I guess. Except he understands how lost he is and it isolates him. He's as scared as we are, but for him comes off angry sometimes."

Ed gave the smaller boy a quizzical look, as of he hadn't really looked at Link until now.

"You know," Ed smirked. "I think I underestimated your maturity."

"Told you I'm not a kid," Link mumbled.

Both of their stomachs growled at the same time and both their heads snapped towards the door to the kitchen. They shared a knowing glance before pushing into the room, intent on finding food.

Link was completely lost in the kitchen. None of the appliances looked even remotely like the ones he was familiar with. Ed, who had been confident that he would know his way around the kitchen enough to be able to find the food, looked just as lost as Link felt. The kitchen was clean and white and just as square as their rooms before they had changed into reflections of their deepest contentments. Link couldn't even begin to describe the things he didn't understand.

"What, no fridge?" Ed muttered.

There was just a tall thing that looked like something that dispensed something, hopefully food, but neither of them knew how to use it. There was something that looked like it could be a stove. It was a flat surface with four red circles on it and runes that looked like nobs but didn't protrude from the surface. The pots and pans that hung mysteriously in the air above the middle of the kitchen were easy enough for Link to understand but they were hovering in the air far out of their reach. The Doctor might be able to reach them, but not Link or Ed.

The dinning area was simple enough except there were only two chairs for the three people who now currently lived on the TARDIS. As the thought crossed Link's mind, two chairs lifted from the ground and the plain white table extended to accommodate the two new arrivals. It was like the TARDIS had read his mind. The TARDIS probably had read his mind, Link corrected. It was a bio-ship, according to the Doctor, and Link might not have understood what that meant but apparently it meant that it could read minds.

Ed rolled his shoulder and approached the food dispenser. He gave it a look over to find out how it worked. The controls were just a bunch of lines, circles, and dots and it wasn't an alien language that the TARDIS would translate for them because neither of them knew what to do.

"So how does this work?" Ed grumbled.

"Voice Interface 9-27, Kitchen Manual, activated," A voice that sounded eerily familiar echoed from behind them.

Both boys spun around to face the speaker and were met with a frighteningly emotionless, almost see through version of Ed.

"Please state the nature of your inquiry." Its voice was freakishly monotone for having Ed's voice and face.

"Who are you?" Ed said.

"I am the TARDIS voice and image interface. Running program 9-27, Kitchen Manual," Voice Interface Ed stated.

"Do you have to look like me?" Ed snapped. In response the interface changed into the form of a woman in a big blue dress and long black hair that frizzed alarmingly.

"Changing default Interface projection to Idris," the voice interface said, now with a inquisitive and frivolous voice. This interface had more personality than the previous projection of emotionless Ed. "Please state your inquiry."

"How do we get food?" Ed asked, slightly more satisfied but still a little put off by the voice interface's creepiness. After a long question and answer session with Idris the Voice Interface, both boys were sufficiently knowledgeable with the workings of the kitchen and dinning area to attempt to make some sandwiches that was edible, if not bland.

Ed took his food to his room, no longer able to resist the need to go through the books that filled his room, lined the walls, and overflowed into stacks around the ground. This left Link sitting at the table alone with a ham and cheese sandwich. He ate thoughtfully before retiring to his own room, planing on checking out the water in his lake. It felt cool to have a lake all to himself that wasn't full of monsters that wanted to kill him.

* * *

Link had discovered that there was absolutely no life other than plants in the forest and no fish in the lake, which was lonely. Despite the lack of fauna in his room, the hammock, though oddly colored, was still extremely suitable for relaxing.

Link was only going to rest for a few minutes but he found himself drifting off much sooner than he expected. When he opened his eyes again he felt like he had slept for a long time but the sun was still in the same place as it had been when his room first changed. Link rolled out of the hammock feeling disorientated. He remembered seeing a clock in Ed's room and decided to see if Ed knew how much time had passed since they had left the kitchen and gone to their separate rooms.

Link once again knocked on Ed's door. Before he even had a chance to respond, Idris appeared behind him and informed him that 'the occupant of this room is in the library'. So Link went back to his own room but found that he had nothing to do there but relax and he'd done enough of that already.

Link decided that he would do something productive, detached his bag from his belt, and took it into the room part of his room. He laid out all the remaining contents on the bed and looked them over thoughtfully. Most of the items he had with him when he went into the forest in the first place were gone, but he didn't think he'd need most of those things anyway.

He still had the Fierce Deity Mask, but he didn't want to use it ever again. The last time he used it, it's power almost consumed him, and it terrified him. The other five masks were much more harmless, though he didn't know how he had them since he had given all of his masks to away before stopping the moon. The he had the Bremen Mask, which would be fun to use, if there where any animals to use it to lead a march, the Bunny Hood, which would be very useful in a pinch or if he needed to get somewhere fast or jump really high, the Keaton Mask, which probably wouldn't summon the Keaton, like it usually did, but it still looked nice and was fun to wear, the Mask of Truth, which Link didn't think he'd need to communicate with Sheikah Stones, but would definitely be useful if he needed to listen to animal's thoughts, and finally, the Stone Mask, which could make him invisible to most people. That would be the most useful and had been his second favorite, next to the Bunny Hood.

In terms of regular items, Link still had his bow as well as the biggest quiver he could find in Termina, holding fifty arrows, and he could use three magic arrow spells, Light, Fire, and Ice. He still had Zelda's Ocarina of Time, which was a huge relief since it was probably the most powerful magical item he owned since it could manipulate time and space if you knew how to play the right songs correctly. Plus, Zelda was his best friend in the whole world. He'd feel horrible if he lost her most prized possession, even if she had given it to him to keep.

He still had his pictograph, but there was no picture in it. Link was sure the Doctor had a devise that would take much better pictographs and keep many more. He also still had his Hookshot, which would be helpful if he ever got something stuck in a tree since it only latched onto wood or wood like surfaces. And he had his Mirror Shield, with the relief of a screaming face etched on it's reflective surface, but not his Gilded Sword, Great Fairy Sword, or Hylian Shield. His Lens of Truth, which when looked through let him see things that were hidden from view or see through mirages, was still there. He was surprised to find that he also had the Bomber's Notebook, which he had used to record the times that people would need his help on the three day cycle, but it was now empty. Link decided he could use it to doodle instead.

The last two items he was not expecting at all. The Moon's Tear, a light blue crystal in the shape of a tear that had fallen from the moon on the first day of the first cycle. He had given it to the Deku Scrubb in exchange for his golden flower perch. He also had the key Anju had given him to the room that had been reserved by a Goron with his name. He had given the key to Anju before entering the Moon during the last five minutes of the final cycle. The key reminded him of Anju and Kafei, her husband. They had both cared for him, and had offered to let him stay at the Inn with them, but he had refused, wanting desperately to return to his search for Navi.

Link was glad he had the two strange items, even if he didn't know how he ended up with them. Link decided he wouldn't need to take them with him everywhere, so he placed it on his bedside table along with the Bomber's Notebook.

Once he had placed everything back into his adventure pouch, which he realized was much like the TARDIS since it was able to carry much more than it should have for its size, he went outside to setup an archery practice range. If he was going to stay with the Doctor for a while, he'd need to at least have something to do to pass the time other than twiddle his thumbs, hoping they'd stumble on Hyrule eventually. Link practiced with only ten out his fifty arrows, and he didn't use any of his magic ones. He fired at his makeshift targets for what felt like hours before the Doctor's voice echoed through his room.

"Can you two meet me in the control room, please?" The Doctor asked. The disembodied voiced ended with a high pitched buzz.

Link sighed and put the stick down and went to the console room. When he got there he found Ed had gotten there before him and the Doctor was still sitting under the console in his hammock that he probably slept in, if he slept at all. When Link entered the room, the Doctor jumped out of the hammock, miraculously not tripping over his own spindly legs, and bounded up the stairs to the console level and did the thing where he wrung his hands, smiled, and rocked back and forth on his wobbly feet.

"Good, you're both here," he said. "I've decided to take us to the Shadow Proclamation since they usually know when something big is happening, like an anomaly. They look a little strange, they're people with rhinoceros heads and their language doesn't translate so I'll do most of the talking. Be extremely polite, they're intergalactic police and they might want to arrest me but they might not if you're with me and if I'm there trying to help you. Intergalactic police politics. Don't touch anything and Ed, don't use any of your alchemy, it might scare them."

"You're on the intergalactic police's wanted list?" Ed asked. "Doesn't that make you a intergalactic criminal?"

"Well, that's one way to look at it," the Doctor said. He looked annoyed at Ed, but not dangerous anymore. "Most other intergalactic police organizations call me a 'good man'. Their words, not mine. I'd say more of an 'amazing man', but that's just me. Anyway, it's politics, it doesn't have to make sense or be ethical. If it was, it wouldn't be politics, it would be common sense."

"True," Ed agreed.

"Anyway, we're going to go to their HQ and ask a few questions and then hopefully have a better idea of what's happening. Also, they might know where Hyrule is at the moment."

"They might know where Epona is?" Link asked hopefully.

"I wouldn't know," the Doctor said. "She might still be in Amestris."

"But maybe she got away?" Link hoped. "I mean, she's got to be okay. She just has to."

"Well, only one way to find out and that would be to find her," the Doctor said.

He clapped, smiled, and rocked again, ordered Link to pull different levers on the side of the console he could reach while Ed held on the railings to stop himself from falling over when the whole room lurched underneath them. Link was getting better at keeping his balance, but still stumbled a little as the room rocked and swayed erratically. The Doctor, being a not very stable person on his feet, also had to grab on to something in all the turbulence. But he looked like he was enjoying it, unlike Ed, who looked like he might be sick.

When the TARDIS came to a halt, the Doctor clapped again, something he liked to do, and went to the doors, with Ed and Link behind him. When he opened the doors inward they were met by a group of humans, completely devoid of rhino parts of any kind, wearing golden armor with red decorations, and pointing spears at them.

"You will surrender to the Great Roman Empire," the leader of the soldiers demanded. "Exit the blue temple and be subject to Roman law."

"Ah, well, sorry, boys," The Doctor winced. "This isn't the Shadow Proclamation."

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	4. Prologue: Arrivaderchi, Roma

**Chapter 4**

 **Prologue: Arrivaderchi, Roma**

* * *

"Welcome to Earth," the Doctor said to Ed and Link, completely ignoring the Great Roman Empire and it's group of soldiers standing outside of the TARDIS doors.

"You wouldn't happen to know what year it is?" The Doctor asked the Roman.

"Year twenty of Augustus, Emperor of Rome and all its people," the man said, believing it to be the best thing in the world.

"Ah, yes," the Doctor nodded. "Good year. Don't think I've been here before. Clara would call it 7BC, but after about the twenty second century it's called Stardate -10." He looked around without getting out of the TARDIS and pulled out his screwdriver and buzzed the soldiers, startling them.

"Are you gods?" One asked quietly from the back.

"Yes," the Doctor answered without hesitation. He checked the reading he got from his sonic, creased his face in concentration and put the screwdriver back in his inside pocket. "Just checking in for, you know, Jupiter, Neptune, and… Juno." He said the words slowly, reminding Link of an old person who couldn't remember the names of his old friends from his childhood. "Don't mind us, carry on with your normal roman business. Just a simple little… health inspection. Very official godly business, pretend we aren't here."

Ed had to cover his mouth to stop himself from laughing, the anger that had built up after being told he was in the wrong place had dissipated. The Doctor was not good at playing god. Link was struggling to not hide behind his hands with secondhand embarrassment at the Doctor's awkwardness. Though unconventional, and against both boys' morals, the lie worked, earning all three of them a respectful bow and an apology.

Link wondered what the TARDIS landing must have looked like from the outside to make the Romans so startled that they'd think it was godly in nature. Maybe it descended clumsily from the sky, he thought to himself, smiling at the mental image it brought. He thought he'd ask later, but quickly decided not to, remembering the horrible failure of his question about the Doctor's wife, whom he was certain existed but had probably died.

Before Link could get lost musing about the strange man's past, the Doctor spun on the heals of his feet, staying upright via some strange law of physics, and put a hand on their shoulders so they could have a conference in private.

"I'm sure you want to leave and go straight to the Shadow Proclamation," he started.

"Damn right," Ed snapped, his anger about being in the wrong place resurfacing.

"But…" The Doctor took his hand off of Ed's shoulder and bopped his nose, causing Ed to scrunch his face in mild anger. "The TARDIS is a fickle thing and she may not take me where I want to be, but she has always taken me to where I need to be."

"So? Find Amestris and then come back," Ed said. "This is a time machine."

"I would if it worked like that, but it doesn't," The Doctor explained.

Link could tell Ed didn't understand what he meant. Link, on the other hand, thought he knew exactly what the Doctor was talking about and decided to explain it before the Doctor tried to but failed miserably.

"When I was saving Termina by playing the Song of Time and resetting time back to when I first left the Clock Tower," Link started. "Every time I played the song, certain things would reset but others wouldn't. I'd retain the masks and weapons I collected but all my miscellaneous items, like ammo, bombs, and money, would all be lost. Unless I put my money in the bank, then I could make a transaction."

"That makes no sense," Ed said. "Shouldn't you keep the things on you but everything else goes back?"

"No," Link looked down at his feet, feeling inadequate. "Time isn't exactly liner, I guess."

"Exactly," the Doctor patted Link's back, making him feel suddenly better, except his face showed a sadness that wasn't there before and was about what Link had said. "It's like stepping in a stream twice. The water you stepped in the first time has already past you by and you'll never truly be able to find it again so when you step into it the second time it's already a different stream."

"I suppose that makes sense," Ed frowned, a little upset that he was educated about the intricacies of time by a ten year old.

"Good," the Doctor smiled, happy Ed understood. "Because it's nothing like that."

"What?" Both boys asked at the same time.

"Anyway, I scanned the Romans, as you might have noticed, and I found was something funny," the Doctor started to explain, leading Ed and Link out of the doors into the streets of the Great Roman Empire, ruled by Augustus. "You two wouldn't mind if we took a small detour to give it a look? Could save an entire planet."

"I don't mind saving planets," Link said.

"Just as long as it doesn't take too long," Ed pointed a finger at the Doctor angrily. "Every second my planet's gone is another second my brother's gone."

"Believe me, I know," the Doctor's sadness moved to the forefront again, weighing his light hearted steps down momentarily before he pushed the funk away. Link almost asked if he had a brother, but he could guess the answer himself.

"You said there was something off about this place?" Link asked, wanting to change the subject before the Doctor and Ed became distant from him, wallowing in their own loneliness.

"Yes!" The Doctor nodded. "I did, didn't I? Did I say what is was yet?"

"No," Link frowned, worried for the sanity of the man before him.

"You said something was funny about the Romans," Ed reminded, just as concerned.

"Ah, right! Well, they're not plastic, so that's not the problem. Do love a plastic Roman. Also, we're not in the city of Rome, just Tuscany. Beautiful country side. Maybe we'll get to sight see a little bit, Clara will be sad she missed this. If we see her after this, don't tell her we went to Tuscany in the year 7BCE with out her or I'll never hear the end of it."

"Are you going to keep talking, or tell us what's so funny about Romans not being plastic?" Ed snapped impatiently.

"What's plastic?" Link asked innocently. His two more advanced friends seemed to have forgotten he came from a world were the biggest technological advancement of the century was the invention of the crossbow.

"Plastic is a polymer," the Doctor said absentmindedly, not considering that Link didn't even understand what polymer meant. "It's synthetic."

When Link looked even more confused, Ed patted him on the shoulder and promised to explain in more detail later, once he got more information out of the Doctor.

"Well, there's a strange energy reading that I haven't seen before. I've seen things similar, but not near Earth, which is strange because this place attracts extra terrestrial attention like some sort of alien magnet. Anyway, the energy reading wasn't coming from the Romans, it was coming from around the Romans. Like they're absorbing secondhand radiation from a powerful entity creature. This would be perfectly normal, except I don't know what it is. We should check it out. I love new things."

"Is it dangerous?" Ed asked.

"Possibly," the Doctor smiled. "Knowing my luck, probably."

"So, shouldn't he stay behind?" Ed pointed at Link, who was offended.

"I've defeated powerful entities before!" Link protested.

"Yeah, so have I. It's still child endangerment."

"I am not a child!"

"You're ten!"

"So? You're not an adult either!"

"I'm sixteen."

"I've been sixteen before!"

"Well, you're ten now. I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I can look after myself and I've been doing a fine job."

"You're ten, you shouldn't have to!"

"So. You're not responsible for me."

"Well, someone has to be and he isn't a good candidate." Ed pointed angrily at the Doctor.

The Doctor looked between the two boys and found that he felt a little lost. He had thought his role as a parental supervisor to such squabbles had been over when his own children and grown and had their own children.

"Boys!" The Doctor shouted angrily, his arms crossed. "Stop arguing or I'm leaving both of you behind in the TARDIS. We can argue about this subject later, right now, I want both of you to come with me. I get into trouble but so do both of you, and there is something that I think we all agree is more interesting than this argument."

"Fine," Both boys crossed their arms and looked away from each other disgruntledly.

"Good," the Doctor once more exercised his favorite expression by smiling childishly, clapping his hands, and rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. "Now, history lesson. We are in a small city in a great empire. It's very beautiful here no matter what time. Well, I suppose it looks much different during the formation of the planet. But we most likely won't be seeing that, now will we? No!"

The Doctor clapped his hands again, but one look from an angry Ed brought him right back on track, causing him to shake his head to rid of of any more distractions.

"Anyway, I'm getting funny readings from a Coliseum like structure," the Doctor said.

"What's that?" Link asked innocently, completely unaware of the horrors humans can create when they have power, time, and slaves and don't have to worry about total annihilation every hundred years or so.

The Doctor sighed. He remembered reading about a similar practice in Ed's world, so Ed wasn't lost to that concept. The Coliseum hadn't happened near Ed's time or home town, but one look at the darkness that filled Ed's eyes told the Doctor everything he needed to know.

"Listen, Ed," the Doctor looked Ed right in the face, knowing instantly that they both had the same drive to protect what little innocence was left in their young friend. "You take Link and investigate the gardens or the park areas, ask questions about any local deity activity. People like the Romans, who still worship gods and or higher powers, will look to almost any strange or dangerous behavior around them as the work of some higher power."

"I believe in gods and or higher powers," Link frowned, wondering if the Triforce was really a blessing of the gods or just extremely powerful alien technology, like the Doctor's TARDIS or sonic screwdriver. "Are my gods real?"

"Yes, right, sorry," the Doctor patted Link's head happily and turned back to Ed. "Edward, you're in charge. Try to stay out of trouble."

"Why does he get to be in charge?" Link asked indignantly.

"Because, he's older and I said so," the Doctor explained.

Link crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at Ed, who responded by making an even sillier face by widening his eyes with his hands and sticking his tongue up his nose. Link tried not to laugh, but a few giggles escaped his mouth, causing Ed to laugh as well.

"Good," the Doctor patted their shoulders. "I'm glad you're getting along again."

"Where are you going to go?" Link asked.

"I'm going to check the Coliseum like structure for alien activity. Other than us, of course," the Doctor answered. "Don't follow me."

With that, the Doctor turned around and exited the TARDIS, leaving Ed and Link standing just inside the doors, completely unattended inside a time machine. Link saw Ed look back at the console, wondering if he could control the TARDIS and find his home without the Doctor's help. Link quickly grabbed his sleeve and tugged, wanting Ed to follow him outside. The Doctor could barely pilot the TARDIS; there was no way Ed could do it.

Once outside, both boy's could better enjoy Rome as it existed in 7BCE. The people all wore white gowns that Ed called togas at first so that Link would know what they were actually called. Once he was sure that Link knew what the official word was, he referred to them as bathrobes.

The buildings were made of marble and stone, decorated with red and gold trim. Fountains littered many of the courtyards, complete with nude statues that Ed tried to distract Link from by covering his eyes, to which Link protested, until he saw the statues' lower regions. Ed tried not to laugh at Link, who's face turned a color not far from the shade of Ed's coat. Plants of all sorts decorated places where statues and fountains wouldn't fit.

"Hey, want something to eat that isn't materialized in the Doc's kitchen?" Ed asked Link when he noticed a bakery selling sweet treats through a window. The aroma around the shop was divine, catching both boys' attention.

"Do we have money for that?" Link asked. "Last time I tried to get food without money it didn't end too well."

Link rubbed his wrist absentmindedly, remembering the beating he had received from the shop owner whom he had unintentionally stolen from. He had never seen anyone so mad before, but it wasn't the last time he had made someone that furious at him.

"Relax," Ed smiled mischievously. Link didn't like his expression one bit. "The Doc's not the only one who can seem like a god to these people. I can use alchemy to fix something for the baker in exchange for a sweet roll that we can split."

"The Doctor told us not to get into trouble," Link complained. "And he also said not to use your alchemy because it could scare people."

"You're not chicken, are you?" Ed asked slyly, only earning a confused look form Link. "I've got a feeling that phrase doesn't mean the same thing in Hyrule, does it?"

"Chickens are evil," Link shivered. "Never make a cucco angry."

"Okay, well," Ed approached the baker, Link trailing behind him skeptically. "I meant to ask if you were a coward, but not with that word. It's like playful jest."

"Oh," Link frowned in concentration. "I'm renown in two worlds for my courage. But courage and stupidity are two completely different things. Your alchemy could get us into a lot of trouble, and not just with the Doctor."

"You've never even seen my alchemy," Ed said. They were now right outside of the bakery, ready to go in. "At least give it a chance before you doubt it."

Ed turned to the baker with the most disarming smile Link had ever seen. He hadn't taken Ed for such a people person. He had a feeling this want going to be the only surprise Ed was going to pull out of his vibrantly colored sleeve.

"Hello," Ed grinned. "I was wondering if I could make a trade for a sweet roll. You see, my little brother and I are really hungry but we don't have any money. I'm really good at fixing stuff. Anything broken, I can fix. If I fix something for you, could we have a sweet roll? Just one, we can share."

The baker looked at Link like he didn't believe Ed's story. Link's stomach decided to pitch in for Ed's sake and grumble at the right time, the aroma of baked goods getting to Link's more primal functions. The baker, a big man with strong, hairy arms and an apron tied tightly around his big belly, was still not impressed.

"No coin, no food," the big man grunted.

"Please, sir?" Link milked being starving as best he could, which was easy considering that he had almost died of starvation more than once.

"Fine," the baker caved when met with Link's infallible puppy dog eyes. "But only if I like your work." The baker turned and went into the back of the shop, motioning for Ed and Link to follow, which they did. Ed winked at Link, clearly trying to silence Link's ever present doubt that something would go horribly wrong very soon.

"My wife broke her mother's old vase. It was a wedding present," the baker motioned to a pile of broken ceramics on a table that was obviously meant for things that would be tossed out. "Fix it, and I might throw in a few meat pies along with that sweet roll."

Link looked sad that they wouldn't be getting their pie. There was no way Ed could fix the vase. Link had ample experience with broken pottery. Vases couldn't be put back together very easily. He was about to ask if there was anything else for Ed to fix, but when he looked at Ed's face and saw the utterly overwhelming amount of confidence, he bit his tongue.

"A vase?" Ed almost laughed. "I'll have it good as new in seconds."

"Really?" The baker looked just as skeptical as Link felt.

"Yeah, no problem," Ed cracked the knuckles on his left hand and the mischievous grin Link didn't like showed itself again. "As long as these are all the pieces."

"They're all here," the baker said.

"Good," Ed smiled.

He walked over to the vase, clapped his hands, and was enveloped in a burst of blue energy. The clay pieces rose off the table and twisted together, bursting with the glow of Ed's power. Like Ed said, within seconds the broken pieces reformed into a single piece that was undoubtedly the vase the baker had asked him to fix.

"Who are you children?" The baker asked.

The man looked stuck between wanting to bow down in respect to this strangely powerful being or call the authorities about a possible loose monster. Link prayed for the first response.

"We're demigods," Ed answered, obviously enjoying the stunned silence his abilities created. "And I believe you promised me a sweet roll and a couple of meat pies for this."

"Yes, yes, right away," the baker quickly hurried back into his shop and put two meat pies and a sweet roll into a bag, which he quickly offered to Ed and then shooed them hurriedly out of his shop. Thank you for your business don't come again."

He slammed the door behind him and the sound of a lock clicking into place right before all the windows in the bakery where shuttered closed.

"Well, that was weird," Ed said.

"So, we got the food!" Link said excitedly, not noticing the strange behavior of the baker over the delight of the meat pie he pulled out of the bag in Ed's hand.

They sat on a fountain with a statue of a lion and ate the meat pies in almost silence. Link's excitement for real food more than stunned Ed. He thought he liked food, but Link's enthusiasm was much greater than his. The kid was done with his meat pie and was asking for his half of the sweet roll before Ed was even a few bites into his. Of course, Ed was preoccupied by the bakers strange behavior. The last time he'd gotten a relation like that was never, and it boggled him far to much for him to be able to eat.

"The Doc was right," Ed said as he split the sweet roll in half for Link. "There is definitely something wrong here. Normally, people are grateful when I fix something like that, not so afraid they close their shop immediately."

"Maybe it's nap time and he wanted to go to sleep?" Link asked, scarfing down the sweet roll while Ed hadn't even finished his meat pie.

"No, he was afraid of us," Ed said. "That's not normal. Even if what I did was way more advanced than he expected."

"I suppose you're right," Link said. "You gonna finish that?"

"Ha, what are you, a growing boy?" Ed joked. "Here, I'm not hungry."

"Thanks!" Link took Ed's meat pie and ate that too.

"We should start asking around," Ed said, getting up from his seat and tucking his half of the sweet roll into an inside jacket pocket.

"I thought the Doctor just said that to get rid of us?" Link said.

"One second, you're a kid, the next you're not," Ed remarked. "I think so too. A Coliseum is where I assume the Romans make their slaves fight each other to the death for entertainment. Sometimes they fight animals too, like lions and bears."

"What's a slave?" Link asked, his innocence showing even more than usual.

"Seriously? Well, someone who has no rights and is treated like cattle, even though they're a person. Humans do horrible things when they have power over another human."

"Should we stop it?"

"No, that might screw with the time line," Ed said, he didn't sound like he liked not doing anything, but he knew the Doctor had a reason for keeping them away from the local Coliseum and Ed didn't want to complain too much.

Instead of discussing the broken morals of the time and place they were stuck in, they decided to go sight seeing and appreciate the alien beauty of Tuscany, one of the quieter villages in the Roman Empire, on the planet Earth. The weather was very nice, and the sounds of daily life filled the air. Link discovered that if he focused hard enough, he could hear the language that was actually being spoken by the natives. He found he greatly enjoyed listening to the Romans shout at each other over the price of cabbages in their own language.

"Quid decem minas? Tu insanis!" An angry shopper shouted at a man behind the counter.

"Quibus adultis caules Armeniae deligitur. Suus 'a rationabili pretium," the man answered impatiently. His tone sounded exasperated.

"Quod eis. Unum in viridi et rubro unum. Haerent semidei," the familiar voice of the baker met Link's ears.

He quickly lost focus on listening to the native language and turned around at the same time as Ed to see the baker pointing at them, taking to a group of five guards. Ed obviously knew what the baker had said, but Link was still in the dark.

"Hey, you boys!" The guards shouted. "Stop right there, by order of Imperial law, all demigods must be tested and approved of by Justitia in a test so that it can be known by the Pantheon on Mount Olympus that you are truly god spawn."

"Uh oh," Link mumbled, wishing more than ever that he had his sword. Maybe Ed could use alchemy to make one for him. "This sounds like trouble. Should we run?"

"Nah," Ed said quietly to Link, still extremely confident in himself and his abilities. "Let's see this Justitia. A Pantheon is exactly what the Doc told us to look into." Ed raised his voice to speak with the soldiers. "Sure, we'll go with you. Where is this test anyway?"

The commander of the guard barked an order to his men to surround them. They were outnumbered ten to one and their sudden hostile behavior startled Link, making him reach for his bag, which he had brought with him out of caution. Ed, on the other hand, stayed calm. Link did notice his hands twitch closer to each other and his feet spread farther apart. He was ready for a fight, but he didn't want the Romans to know that.

"What's the deal!" Ed snapped. "We're going with you willingly!"

"Demigods are not to be trusted until they are proven by her Divine Lady Justitia," the commander snarled. "Restrain them."

"Now do we run?" Link tugged on Ed's sleeve. "Because we should run."

"No," Ed sighed.

"But…"

"I'll explain later, just trust me."

"Fine, but if this goes from bad to worse, it's not my fault. And I get to say I told you so."

"I suppose I can give you that," Ed ruffled Link's hair before the soldiers grabbed them both and tied their hands behind their backs with rope. Link saw that Ed wasn't properly restrained and could use the same alchemy power to escape at any time. Link tested the ropes on himself and found that they where way looser than he had anticipated. They must be underestimating him because of his age. There were some advantages to having a child's face.

The soldiers lead them through the city. They passed by the TARDIS and Link wanted to make a break for it, but Ed saw him looking at the box and shook his head discretely. Link wasn't serious about trying to get inside the TARDIS. He wasn't sure how to open it. There was no way the Doctor would leave the box unsecured so that anyone could get in and start pushing button.

They eventually came upon a huge round building with no roof. It was made of stone and gold and it sparkled in the mid morning light. Link could hear a roar of an unseen crowd, someone screaming in agony, and the feral sounds of a monstrous creature.

"This is the colosseum, isn't it," Link whispered to Ed.

Ed nodded and gulped nervously. "You can say it."

"Told you so."

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	5. Prologue: Lions, Goats, Snakes, Oh My!

**Chapter 5**

 **Prologue: Lions, Goats, Snakes, Oh My!**

* * *

"You will be escorted to the weapons chamber of the Underworks, where you can choose the weapons you will use in the test," the captain of the guard started explaining as his men shoved the two boys through a discrete passageway under the colosseum. "You seem like nice kids, I'll pray to Mars and Minerva you come out of this alive."

"That is so reassuring," Ed grumbled.

"Thank you," Link mumbled, appreciating the man's intent.

They guards left them relatively unattended in the weapons room of the Underworks and removed their ropes. The room was large and carved into the ground. Wooden support beams held the floor up and weapons of all types hung on weapons racked. Blood dripped from the ceiling, some of it falling onto Link shoulder, making him whimper in discomfort and cringe closer to Ed.

Ed was looking around for a spear that fit his small stature, but he had it easy since he was much taller than Link. There were swords of all shapes and sizes, and shields as well. Link counted multiple bows and a plethora of arrows. He had his own bow with him, as well as the fifty arrows and he was skilled with magic arrows, but he didn't know what was going to be in the test, and he didn't want to ask one of the guards. He was hoping Ed would ask, but Ed looked like he was planning on adapting to whatever was going to meet them as it came.

After a long time of scrounging around for a sword and shield that fit him to no avail, Link approached Ed and tugged on his sleeve.

"Everything's too, big," Link complained.

"Want me to make something?" Ed asked.

"No, just…" Link frowned. "Maybe we should keep that a secret. I've got my own bow, but I'm worried it might not work well for the test. And I've got some other stuff just in case. But I'm more comfortable with a sword and shield."

"Try looking at the knives, kid," Ed suggested.

Before Link could start looking at the knives, though, a very big man in black armor and a large war hammer approached them menacingly.

"Come with me, Demi-gods," he snarled through his thick, crooked teeth. He didn't give them a choice to come willingly, much like the other guards, and choose to drag them through the Underworks and out through a gate that lead to the arena. He threw them through the gate and it slammed down behind them. Ed swore.

The arena of the colosseum was huge and littered with small stone obstacles and holes to drain the pools of blood on the ground. The stands rose up above them and were filled with men, women, and children alike, all merrily spectating the violence below them. On the opposite side of the stands was an isolated balcony with a huge throne covered in pillows and blankets. There was no one there yet, but Link knew who ever was in charge would soon join them.

The stench of death and blood filled Link's nose and made him sick to his stomach. Despite being open and sunny, this place gave him the same feeling as when he had ventured into the Shadow Temple to free Impa from Ganondorf. The temple had been cold, damp, blood stained, and full of the skeletal remains of the victims who had died there. Link tried his best not to look at the mangled fresh corpse that no one had bothered to remove yet.

Link found himself inching closer to Ed out of instinct and he pulled his bow and quiver from his pouch, slinging the quiver over his shoulder and stringing the bow as quickly as he could. Ed gave his bag a double take, but he didn't question it.

While Link was readying his only real weapon, a woman in a red and yellow robes walked out onto the balcony. She raised her hands above her head and the people in the stands screamed their approval. Link winced at the loud noise. The woman was tall and her blond hair trailed down her back and past her knees. Her skin was olive colored, but Link couldn't make out any other features from the distance.

After her, came three high ranking soldiers and then the Doctor himself. He looked very in charge and confident, much like Ed. The Doctor didn't notice them at first, but when he did, his confidence fell away and he ran to edge of the balcony. Before the Doctor could shout something to them, the Oracle, for the woman could be no one else, began to speak.

"People of Rome!" She began her address. "We have among us those who claim to be children of the gods themselves." The crowd cheered. "As you all know, no Demi-God can be proven except by the test. My fellow mortals, are you ready to see a Trial of the Gods‽" the crowd cheered harder. "Then release the chimera!"

Ed swore again and Link grabbed an arrow from his quiver, ready to charge it with any type of magic. Ed had a spear in his hands and he quickly took a battle stance. The blood stained iron gate underneath the Oracle's balcony lifted with a loud creak and a three headed monster sprung out in a fit of rage.

The chimera had the body of a lion but three heads, a lion and goat head in the front and a triangular snake in the back replacing where the tail would go. Both the goat's head and the lion's head were covered in the same mane. The back legs were reptilian and muscular. It had a dragon's wings that were mutilated beyond deformity so that it could not fly away and wreck havoc on the town.

Link drew back the arrow and aimed for the lion head, but he didn't fire at first. The chimera was circling them, the goat head bleating angrily, the lion head's maw pulled back in a snarl, and the snake head hissing and spitting. Ed tried to circle around it so that they could surround it, but he got too close and the snake head lashed out at him, ripping into his right shoulder. The crowds cheer drowned out both Link and the Doctor's scream of fear, but Ed pulled away unharmed.

The snake's teeth hadn't penetrated Ed's metal prosthetic, which covered much of his shoulder. It had, however, ripped away Ed's sleeve, revealing his metal arm. The crowd was deadly silent upon seeing Ed's metal limb.

"Wrong arm!" Ed mocked, drawing the attention of the lion head as well. "It'll take more than that to get me, you overgrown lab rat."

Link took advantage of Ed's distraction and quickly fired and arrow at the snake head, since it was still close to Ed and posed a threat. The arrow lodge itself in the back of the snake's head and stuck out the other side, Link notched another arrow and fired that one as well, right at the goat's head, which was looking right at him. The whole creature lurched into the air at Link, over the arrow which went wide. Both remaining heads closed in on him.

"Kid, look out!" Ed ran after the chimera, but it was too fast.

Link took a few steps backwards, but held his ground. He prepared to roll out of the way when the monster closed in, but it stopped before reaching him and the goat's mouth opened wide. Bright green fire poured out and surrounded Link, who acted quickly, casting Din's Anger to counter the goats green fire. The two fires met in an explosive blast, knocking Link through the air and his head cracked against the wall.

Link could vaguely hear Ed screaming his name, but it was hard to tell through the ringing in his head and the echoing of people shouting in the stadiums. Link could faintly see Ed fighting desperately with the snake head, which had the audacity to heal itself while the other two heads had busied themselves with trying to barbecue Link. Ed was standing in between Link and the chimera, blocking with a mix of his left leg, which was clearly showing, his right arm, and the broken spear in his left hand. The goat head and lion head had been blinded and badly burned in the blast, but their ears where still swiveling around, listening for the faintest sounds.

The world slowly started to come back into focus, and then Link had an idea. He reached into his bag and felt around for two things, the Bunny Hood, and the Stone Mask. He placed both on his head since he would need to move quickly and not be noticed. The crowed once again grew quieter, but the cheers did not die down instantly. Ed was stupid enough to look behind him to make sure the lull wasn't because Link had died.

When Ed noticed Link was gone, he panicked, letting himself be distracted from the snake head long enough for it to become a threat. But Link was wearing the Bunny Hood and managed to pushed Ed out of the way. Since Link had come in contact with Ed, the older boy was able to see him, but the mask disturbed him, even with the harmless bunny ears sticking out from behind it.

"I'm invisible to everyone but you," Link whispered. "Keep the snake distracted. There's a broken sword over there. I can get it quickly because of my Bunny Hood, but the chimera might hear me since I'll still make noise."

"Be loud, got it," Ed whispered back.

He loudly mocked the chimera, and continued to attack it while Link ran over to the sword, clearing the stones in the way with long jumps. When Link reached the broken sword he grabbed it and spun on his heels as fast as he could, which dislodged the Stone Mask, sending it flying. Link caught it before he fell too far away and placed it back in his bag. Before Ed could be overwhelmed, Link rushed and the chimera, jumping as high in the air as the Bunny Hood's magic would allow. As he came back down on the unsuspecting snake head, he swung the sword as hard as he could.

The snake turned up to face him just in time for Link to slice the snake down the middle, right up the the lion's rear. What was left of the lion and goat head screeched in agony and the wings flailed out in pain, hitting Ed in the face, cutting his forehead and knocking him to the ground. Link leapt away from the flailing monster as it died. As soon as it stopped moving Link ran to help Ed up off the ground. He offered Ed his hand, but Ed got up on his own.

"Are you okay?" Link asked.

"I've got a head ache and I'm sore all over," Ed rubbed his back where he had fallen and made a face. Link couldn't tell, but Ed was looking at him with a new found respect. "You?"

"I'm a little dizzy, but I've had worse."

"The Demi-Gods have passed their trial!" The Oracle announced to the audience. Both boy's had almost forgotten about her and the rest of the Romans, they had been so distracted by the fight for their lives. The Doctor was standing next to her, looking very, very distressed. "Tell me, great heroes, what are you names?"

"I'm Edward, and this is Link," Ed shouted back at her.

"Let me guess. You are the sons of Vulcan, god of fire and the forge, are you not? Though perhaps young Link here is the work of Apollo, the archer sun god?"

"You got that right," Ed lied.

The gate from the Underworks opened up behind them and the back armored soldier motioned for Ed and Link to follow him, which they did. Link was glad no one was pushing him around anymore, but he was a little wobbly. The guards stood at attention when they passed. The black armored soldier lead them through the Underworks and up to a private chamber behind the Oracle's balcony. Link could tell because he was drawing himself a map in his head of everything they passed in case they needed it later.

The Oracle's chamber was much more modest than Link had expected. It was lavash with finely crafted curtains, rug, pillows, tables and low sofas, with fruits and breads in bowls all around, but it was small. Four light braziers rested in each corner, the underlying hue of each burning in a rotation of colors. The Oracle herself lay casually on one of the sofas.

The Doctor, who was pacing back and forth, rushed to them both, clamoring over which boy he should fret over first. When Ed crossed his arms and glared at him, the Doctor decided to skip the fretting and went straight to angry.

"I told you to stay away from the colosseum. Did you not understands what that meant? You almost got both of you killed!"

"You're not my old man," Ed snapped.

"Sorry," Link added, wanting to clarify that Ed's anger was not his anger. "It's Ed's fault."

"Wow, and after all we've been through," Ed sounded mildly wounded at Link's tattle. "You said check out the pantheon. We checked out the pantheon. It lead here."

"We didn't check out the pantheon," Link corrected. "You fixed a pot so we could get something to eat and then we got arrested."

"Yeah, whatever," Ed brushed off Link's second tattle. "He's the one who doesn't give us any food or money."

"So, companions of the Doctor," the Oracle stood from her seat and approached them. "You are not what I was expecting. Tell me, Doctor, when did you start associating with children. I always though you were interested in women."

"They're lost, it's not… Ew," the Doctor flustered. "Why would… Uhh…"

"Okay, we've established the Oracle lady's a creep," Ed said. "Now what the hell was up with that chimera thing?"

"I do believe you've described it accurately already," the Oracle replied with a chuckle.

"No, no," the Doctor shook his head and held his hands out. "Chimera's like that shouldn't exist in this time period. Or on this planet. Who are you and what do you want with Earth."

"Why, the people Doctor," the Oracle smiled innocently. "There are so many people on this planet and they bow to anything they can't explain. The sun, the moon, the stars, the rain. Predict one earthquake and they think you're a god. Who wouldn't want that? You would know, wouldn't you, Doctor?"

"Ha! So you're alien," the Doctor laughed triumphantly. "Then I'm going to have to ask you to leave this planet."

"Why?" The Oracle pouted. "I'm not hurting anyone."

"Your pet nearly killed two children," the Doctor pointed out indignantly. "And who knows how many other innocent people you've feed to your monsters!"

"It was you who brought the children here and put them in danger." The Oracle answered slyly. "And how many have the locals fed to their own monsters?"

"I told them to stay out of trouble and they're more than capable of taking care of themselves," the Doctor proved that he had an answer for everything she could say. "And you're not native to the planet."

"Neither are you, dear," the Oracle had the last word.

The Doctor couldn't answer to that, so he just closed his mouth and pouted angrily, still making sure he stood between his two newest companions and the Oracle.

"Now, boys," she turned her attention to Ed and Link and smiled too sweetly for either of their liking. "I know you're not really demigods, but then again, you know that I'm not really an Oracle of Delphi, don't you?"

"What are you getting at?" Ed crossed his arms. Link fidgeted nervously behind him, mapping exits and strategic locations in case the Oracle turned into a giant monster without a moments notice.

"You don't know this man, do you?"

"We don't know you, either," Ed pointed out.

"But I can offer you so much more, dear."

"We just want to get home, and I think that now would be a good time to leave, Doctor."

"Yes, good idea, yes," the Doctor nodded, promptly leading the two boys out of the Oracle's presence. But just as they began to make their escape to a safer location, the Oracle lunged at Link, grabbing him in her arms and wrenching him away from both the Doctor and Ed. Link yelped and began to struggle, trying desperately to bite his assailant and make her let go so he could escape. Metal doors slammed shut, locking Ed and the Doctor on one side and trapping Link with the Oracle on the other.

"Link!" Ed shouted from the other side of the door. Link heard Ed's hands clap together and slam against the doors in an attempt to disassemble the doors and get to Link. Link could also hear the Doctors special screwdriver buzzing, trying to pry apart the locking mechanism. But the doors remained where they were, locked and in their natural solid state.

"Let me go!" Link shouted, pinching the Oracle's arm violently, forcing her to let go.

"Why you little brat!" She rubbed her arm and glared daggers at him. Without hesitating, she backhanded him so hard he was sent to the floor with a thud and a small yelp.

"Kid!" The sound of Ed desperately threw himself against the door, his metal arm clanging against the alien metal echoed through the room

"Ed, it's no use, the doors are magnetically dead locked, we have to go," the Doctor's voice was serious and direct and everyone knew he was right, but Ed wouldn't have any if it despite the fact and threw himself against the doors a second and third time before accepting defeat.

"Kid, I'm coming back, I promise!" Ed shouted, banging a fist on the door. "I won't leave you!" The sound of footsteps and then silence signaled that Ed and the Doctor had left, hopefully for reinforcements.

"What do you want?" Link pressed himself against the nearest wall, as far away from the Oracle as possible. Her skin was turning green and scaly, her hair began transforming into snakes, and her teeth were changing to match the snake theme of her hair and skin. Though Link had faced countless monster, she still terrified him. Link didn't like being afraid, it made him feel inadequate, but without Navi, he felt so exposed and weak. Navi knew everything, she would know how to defeat this new monster.

"What are you? What do you want with me?"

"I know what you are," the woman slithered towards Link, who cowered behind his hands and clench his eyes shut, too scared to think straight. "A lost little child, alone and afraid."

"That's not true," Link protested, holding on Ed's words. "Ed's coming back for me, he promised."

"Just like Navi," the Oracle hissed through her fangs. Her forked tongue flicked out of her mouth and teased Link's ear, which he covered immediately with his hand. "She promised to never leave you, but now where is she? And the others, what of them? They don't remember you, they don't know how powerful you really are, how wise, how important. They cast you aside without a second glance. They think you're worthless, nothing but a parentless leach, a worthless orphan, a disgusting bastard."

"That's not true, that's not true," Link whimpered.

"But it is, and you know it," the Oracle grabbed Link's hand and twisted it away from his face, forcing him to look at her. Link was paralyzed with fear, her red eyes began to dilate and Link found it increasingly impossible to move. "You're alone, you'll always be alone, but I won't let you leave me. You have more power than any in the universe, Linkie, even more than the Doctor, or any adversary you've faced. I can awaken that within you. I can absorb your power!"

"Let me go!" Link reached desperately in his bag, fighting with all his will to move away, to get away, to escape.

"I will have your power all for myself," the Oracle hissed.

She unhinged her jaw and lunged at Link, ready to swallow him whole. Link screamed, grabbing the first thing that he could find in his bag. The Mirror Shield sprung forth and Link wedged it between himself and the impending monster's face. The Oracle collided with the glass, and was met with her own reflection. She shrieked, covering her face with her taloned hands and cringing away from the awful sight. In an amazing feat of luck, Link had pulled out the exact right item in his arsenal. As light reflected from the shield hit her, the Oracle's skin turned slowly from scaly and green, to harsh and gray, and then she was stone.

The danger had past, but the damage was done. The Oracle's words echoed through Link's head, ripping at his insecurities and clawing at his confidence. No one recognized him when he returned to the past, no one remembered that he was their friend, that he saved their lives. Not even Princess Zelda remembered. She was happy to see him, but she wasn't sure why, and he couldn't bring himself to tell her because it was too heavy of a burden to carry. He didn't want her to feel what he felt.

"Navi," Link whimpered, calling out for someone familiar to comfort him, to tell him everything was going to be alright. But no one answered. The Oracle, as still as the stone she was, stood in her form of anguish and torment, which he had caused, and Link wept. "Navi. Navi, please help me."

"Kid!" Ed's voice echoed through the room, much like how the Doctor's had when he had summoned them to the control room not an hour ago. "Get away from the door, we're getting you out! Just hold on a little longer, okay?"

Just then, there was a huge bang against the metal door that had separated him from Ed and the Doctor and the metal collapsed concavely in on itself. Link wiped away his tears and pulled himself to his feet, getting away from the door. He clutched the shield to his chest and tried to put on a mask of confidence, so that when they got in, they wouldn't see his tears and think he was just a child that needed to be protected.

Link managed to hide his fear just as the doors fell away, warped out of their place by the force of the TARDIS bashing into it. The big blue box itself skidded on the ground before stopping right in front of Link, doors facing him. They opened rapidly with a shrill creak and Ed burst out, pulling Link into a hug, ignoring the shield digging into his chest.

"Told you I'd come back, didn't I?" Ed said, as if Link doubted him.

Ed was too stubborn to break a promise, even a stupid one, and Link was so small and reminded him so much of his brother before he'd accidentally ripped everything away from him. And he reminded him of Nina before she'd been mutilated and killed, young and innocent and full of life.

"I killed her," Link mumbled into Ed's bright red jacket. "She turned into a snake and tried to eat me, but now she's dead."

"Well, she won't be bothering anybody," the Doctor sauntered out of his box and buzzed the stone Oracle with a quizzical look. "Ah, I thought so, a Zexh. They're pretty nasty. They feed off of other's energy, but only if they're scared stiff, literally. It explains the Coliseum. Skilled warriors are their favorites, and the monsters she had would scare anyone. They're also classified as undead, but that's an entirely different explanation."

"That's why the Mirror Shield worked?" Link asked, pulling away from Ed and holding up the shield he had gotten in the Stone Tower Temple. Ed stood up and tried to help Link to his feet, but Link was fine on his own. "It's super effective against zombies and skeletons and stuff."

The Doctor buzzed the shield and checked the reading on his screwdriver. "Where were you keeping that?" The Doctor asked, trying to hide his puzzled expression with a childish grin, but both Link and Ed had caught his skeptical expression. As they talked they returned to the TARDIS and closed the doors.

"I keep it in my bag," Link unlatched his bag from his belt and held it up so the Doctor could see it. "I've always had it. It was my mom's I think, and she left it with me when she gave me to the Deku Tree when I was a baby. It's kinda like your TARDIS, I guess, cause it's bigger on the inside, too. But I don't think a person would fit. I've never tried it like that."

"This is a curious bag," the Doctor took it and examined it. He tried to open it, but the cover wouldn't budge. "It's broken."

"I'm the only one who can open it," Link explained.

"It's isomorphic," the Doctor said. "How, though?"

"I dunno. It just is, can I have it back now?" Link complained, reaching for his bag so he could put the shield back. It was heavy in his arms and the leather strap he usually used to keep it on his back had been confiscated by the All-Seer and his gang.

"'It just is' is not a good answer," the Doctor frowned at Link.

"Please give it back?" Link tried to take it from the Doctor but he couldn't reach.

"Come on, Doc," Ed crossed his arms. "Give him his bag back. You can think about how it works later."

"As a fellow man of science and I am offended," the Doctor pouted, but he gave the bag back and watched with fascination and Link put the shield back. The inside glowed and the shield seemed to shrink to fit through the opening. When it was back in the bag, it stopped glowing and Link put it back on his belt.

"I'm hungry," Link informed Ed.

"Me too, kid," Ed ruffled his hair. "What's for dinner, Doc?"

"I don't know, and don't call me that."

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	6. Prologue: The Alien who Left

_Thank you all for reviews!_

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **Prologue: The Alien Who Left for Christmas**

* * *

It had been at least a week since the incident in Rome, 7BC, and the Doctor still hadn't managed to find Ed's planet or stumble on Hyrule. The Shadow Proclamation, which took the Doctor a few tries to actually find, didn't even know what Alchemia was. Which explained while chasing the Doctor out of their base at gun point.

Once they were safe back on the TARDIS and floating in the limbo of the Time Vortex while the Doctor tried to come up with a different plan, Ed had jokingly imitated the Rhino men's language and he and Link couldn't stop laughing. Then Ed remembered that they were still no closer to finding his home than before and he walked away silently, leaving Link alone with the Doctor.

"He misses his brother," Link said, jumping into the captains chair while the Doctor fiddled with the console. "He really loves Alphonse, doesn't he?"

"They are very close, yes," the Doctor nodded. "I imagine they were inseparable."

"He's really scared he'll never see him again," Link mumbled. He swung his feet back and forth and twiddled his fingers. "Do you have a brother, Doctor?"

"Yes, I did once. An older brother," the Doctor was sad again, like Ed, but the Doctor was much sadder. At least Ed still had hope. The Doctor was too knowledgable and old to still have hope he'll ever see his brother again. "He's gone now."

"I'm sorry," Link whispered, ashamed he had brought back some of the Doctor's older, more painful memories. "Do you think Ed'll want to see me while he's sad like this? Or will he just get mad at me?"

"I don't know, he's unpredictable."

"You're just saying that cause he gets mad at you a lot and it confuses you."

"Hmm," the Doctor frowned intently at the console he was in front of. A strange beeping sound with three tones repeating came from the speakers when the Doctor flipped a switch. He wasn't listening to Link anymore, he was so engrossed in this new noise.

Link sighed and jumped off of the captain's chair. He decided to go to his room, but as he was about to open the door, he noticed Ed's wasn't closed all the way and he could hear Ed counting and grunting. Link peaked through the door and saw Ed doing push-ups. He was already on fifty-seven.

"Ed?" Link opened the door further so he wasn't hiding behind it. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure, kid," Ed smiled. "Let's go to the living room, it's got better group seating."

Ed and Link went to the living room and sat down on the couch. Ed sat down first and Link sat down next to him and adopted a melancholy look like the Doctor's when he was deep in thought about things from long ago that were long past. Ed hated seeing such a small kid looking like an old man full of pain and regret. Someone Link's age should be light hearted and free of burdens, content to just play with friends and be loved by his family.

"What'd you want to talk about?" Ed asked, hoping to distract Link from whatever dark thoughts turned in his head.

"I dunno," Link admitted. "Just, anything, I guess."

"Nothing on your mind?" Ed clarified, just to make sure Link didn't have something to say but had changed his mind half way through.

"Well, not really," Link felt Ed's hand on his shoulder and he leaned into the older boy, grateful for the comfort. In truth, he was still thinking about what the Zexh Oracle had said to him. It really hurt and had been keeping him up at night, if there even was 'night' in a time machine. "Am I gonna be alone again when you and I go home?" Link whispered.

"There's really no one waiting for you in Hyrule?" Ed sounded worried, and Link could hear pity in his voice, but it didn't feel bad. It was more like Ed was confused rather than pitying him.

"Everyone I know of is dead or doesn't want me," Link lamented, bring his hand up to hold onto Ed's shirt for further comfort and so that it was easier to bury his face against Ed. "You and the Doctor are the only people who've really actually noticed me since Navi…" Link's thought was left hanging in the air. He was too upset about the subject to go any further.

"That isn't right," Ed said angrily under his breath. "You're a kid and every kid deserves a family and a home."

"What's a mom like?" Link looked up at Ed's face, unaware of how clearly his pain and loneliness showed on his face.

"A mom…" Ed ruffled Link's hair with the hand he had around his shoulder and smiled sadly. "A mom, a real mom, loves you forever, even after she's gone. And she always knows what to do when you're hurt or scared or sad or angry. A mom's got the best smile in the world. It's a smile that can make anything better."

"I could really use a mom," Link observed sadly. Ed squeezed Link's shoulder in comfort and thought about his own mom and how much he loved her, how much he still loved her. He would never stop loving her, and missing her.

"What'd a dad supposed to be like?" Link asked innocently.

"Who gives a shit!" Ed snapped, getting suddenly angry, his hand tightening on Link's arm and his free hand clenching into a fist.

"Sorry!" Link hid under his arm.

"It's not your fault, kid," Ed took his off of Link's shoulder and ran it through his hair to cool himself off. "I don't know what a dad's supposed to be like. My old man walked out when I was little and I don't remember him very well. I'm mad at him, not you."

"Sorry," Link repeated, laying his head on Ed's arm.

"Me to," Ed sighed. "Any more family questions, cause I don't have a sister."

"Can I ask about your brother?" Link whispered. "I don't want to make you sad again."

"I should probably talk about it," Ed said, but he did sound sad. "I miss him and I bet he misses me too. He's my little brother, we're all we've got. Other than Winry and her grandma, no one else was gonna look after us. Al… Al's a lot like you, actually."

"Really?" Link sat up to look at Ed's face when he talked about his brother.

"Yeah, really," Ed smiled and then rested his head on the back of the couch. "You're both way nicer than I'll ever be, and much more polite." Ed laughed quietly, like he was remembering a fond memory about something he had done. "Al's just… he's much better at making friends than me. And when we argue, he always seems to come out on top, plus he always wins our spars. I've only ever beaten him once since we learned how to actually fight and it's because I cheated."

"Think I could beat you in a spar? You know, I don't think I've ever actually sparred with anyone before. Like for fun or just practice."

"How'd you get so good in a fight if you've never sparred?"

"It was learn or die. There were monsters everywhere and they all wanted to kill me, so I had to learn how to defend myself. I practiced swinging at imaginary bad guys and I'd play in the shooting range to earn money, but the only time I've fought real, actual people, they were trying to kill me. I feared for my life, at least."

"But you're a kid!" Ed protested. "Who tries to kill a kid? Who just let's a kid go through that? There had to have been someone who wanted to help you."

"Just Navi," Link said. "But she's a fairy, so she's not very big. She helps a lot by telling me where a monster's weakness is and she lights up places I need to hit. The only times I've fought without her was when I was in Termina. But Tatl, who's also a fairy, helped me that time. She was really bossy and she yelled at me a lot. And when we'd run into monsters with the Doctor. But we usually just run from those and you've been with me too, so I'm not afraid because we've got each other's backs."

"You really miss Navi, don't you?" Ed asked. Link had talked about her often and it was always positive. Link mentioned that Navi would know what to do when he was in a tight situation. Sometimes when Link fell asleep on Ed's shoulder, he'd call for Navi in his sleep when his dreams took a turn for the worse. "What happened?"

"She…" Link looked down at his knees. "She left." He said quietly. "She… she didn't say anything and… she barely even looked back. Then she flew away. I was in Termina because I was looking for her. She wouldn't just leave me like that, right? She's my best friend and she… she always knew what to say and what to do. She always comforted me. She's like how you said a mom is. Why would she leave like that?" Link tried not to cry, but it hurt so much and soon his tears were streaming down his face.

"Come here, kid," Ed leaned forward and pulled Link into a hug.

"Ed," Link hiccuped through his sobbing. "F-Fairies are s-s-supposed to be… be immortal. They can't… they can't die, not while they still have a purpose. Life fairies d-d-disappear when they h-heal someone, but guide fairies, they shouldn't… shouldn't have to disappear. I still need her, she shouldn't be gone if I still need her. She promised not to do something like that! It isn't fair."

"I'm here, kid. It's okay to cry."

"She's gone forever, isn't she?"

"She'd want you to keep going. It might hurt, but you have to keep walking. You've got legs, right?"

Link nodded and sniffled. He held onto Ed for a little longer, still hiccuping quietly. Ed didn't let go because he didn't want Link to see his own tears. He wouldn't admit it, but he was scared the Doctor would never find Amestris and he'd never see his little brother again. It had been a week and the Doctor had managed to land in the wrong place, not once, not twice, but four times before he actually got to the Shadow Proclamation, which had been a dead end. Holding Link as if he was a smaller Al made Ed feel a little better.

"Kid, do you really have to go back to Hyrule?" Ed asked. "If there's nothing there for you, why should you have to go back?"

"Do you think the Doctor'd let me stay with you?" Link asked, holding onto Ed tighter, still shaking with the occasional hiccup. He didn't want to lose another friend. "Maybe we can ask?"

"Let's wait for the right moment," Ed said. "He's a real stickler for a select few rules and I think leaving people in places they're not meant to be is one of his no goes. You've seen him defending places from aliens, even if the alien isn't doing any extra damage. I know you'd be no trouble, but the Doctor might think it could be dangerous."

"Oh," Link whispered sadly. "I forgot about that."

As Link's hiccups started going away, the Doctor knocked on the door, a very serious expression on his face. At first Ed and Link thought he'd heard them talking about Link going with Ed instead of returning to Hyrule. But when they saw that he was so hyper focused on something that he was almost blind to the world, they realized he wouldn't be able to hear anything unless it was about whatever had his attention.

"What's up?" Ed stood up, discretely wiping his face. "Did you find something?"

"What?" The Doctor shook his head to clear it and smiled a big dorky grin akin to a child in a candy shop with a large bag of saved allowances. "Yes! Something weird, something new! It's amazing, but…"

"If you're going to try the 'it's too dangerous for children' card then you can shove it," Ed snapped. "If it'll get me…"

"No, no," the Doctor went to Ed and put his hands on his shoulder and shook his head again. "It's not about Alchemia this time. It's about something else and I don't know what it is! Isn't it great!"

"But what about Amestris!" Ed pushed away from the Doctor angrily. "I have to get to my brother!"

"You will, I promise, but right now…" The Doctor almost jumped up and down with excitement, leading them to the console room. "This is really big. And I mean this is a whopper." The Doctor tried to expand his point by waving his hands in the air to express a very large something. "But it's also really dangerous. I'm sorry, but you'll have to leave the TARDIS for a little while, but I will leave you somewhere safe, with someone I'd trust with the most important things in the universe. And I will be back for you two as soon as I can. I promise."

"You're kicking us out?" Link asked, confused. He knew the Doctor did some strange, unpredictable things, but he didn't think he'd drop them off somewhere leaving nothing but his word that he'd be back.

"No! I'm not kicking you out, Link," the Doctor patted Link's head.

"No, he's abandoning us," Ed snarled.

"I am not!" The Doctor assumed a very offended expression and began piloting the TARDIS through the time vortex. "I would never do that. I will be back and you will be safe. I'm leaving you with my best friend, Sarah Jane Smith. She's got a son about your age. You'll like them and they'll take care of you. I don't have time to say hello, but just mention you know me and show her your TARDIS keys. She'll take care of you until I'm done checking this very confusing signal. You should go pack the things you want with you because I don't know how long I'll be."

"How long until we know you're dead," Ed asked, crossing his arms accusingly.

"Two weeks," the Doctor answered back.

"But that won't happen, right?" Link said, looking between both of them. He knew the Doctor was flimsy at best, but he always made it out unscathed to Link's knowledge. "You'll come back, right?"

"Of course I will," the Doctor ruffled Link's hair. "Now go get packed, this big thing can't wait for too long, you two. And dress for Earth, beginning of the twenty-first century, so you blend in better."

* * *

Ed dressed in a black t-shirt and transmuted his red travel cloak into a hooded sweatshirt version of the same thing. He also wore black skinny jeans since his leather pants weren't really for the time period. Or any time period. He kept his regular combat boots and his belt and his pocket watch was attached to one of the belt loops on the skinny jeans and then placed inside the big pocket on the sweatshirt. He still wore his white gloves to cover his metal hand.

Link was more simple. He figured the Doctor would be dropping them off somewhere in the British Isles since he loved the place so much and it was always cold, so he didn't wear his green shorts or t-shirt. His Kokiri clothes were out of the question and they didn't keep him very warm either. Link opted for a green t-shirt and a white long sleeve underneath, so he wouldn't get cold. He also wore slightly worn blue jeans and a pair of white sneakers the Doctor had bought for him when they noticed none of the shoes in the wardrobe fit him. Link also pulled a green and brown beanie over his ears so no one would give him funny looks since they were landing on earth.

All the clothes they had fitting the time period were in the wardrobe, which was connected to the dressers in their room so it was easy to find everything they would need clothes wise. Link wanted to put all their things in his bag but Ed insisted they use regular duffle bags and hide Link's infinite pockets in case they get compromised for whatever reason. They needed to have as many secret tricks up their sleeves as possible. Plus, duffle bags made it easier to separate their things. Link agreed, but still wanted to put everything in his bag.

Ed packed everything he could because he was certain the Doctor wouldn't come back, but Link only packed the essentials and his most personal things because he wanted to remain optimistic. When he realized all he had were the essential and a few personal things he frowned but remained strong in his belief that the Doctor would return for them and help them find their homes, or home, hopefully.

"You two packed?" The Doctor asked, looking over the duffle bags but not leaving the console unattended as he piloted his TARDIS. "Now, behave, Edward, Sarah Jane is a good person but she can be strict. Link, keep an eye on Ed and make sure he doesn't get you into trouble."

"What, you're not gonna tell the kid to behave?" Ed scoffed jokingly.

"Please don't strand us somewhere," Link whispered over the wheezing of the box, only loud enough for himself to hear. He was getting a foreboding feeling, like whatever the Doctor was jumping head first into was something very, very dangerous and he might not come back.

"I'm leaving you on Earth!" The Doctor was thrown to the side mid sentence as the TARDIS lurched beneath them, making the most distressingly creaky groan Link had ever heard. He could almost hear words or a song, but he couldn't quite make anything out.

"Doc, what was that?" Ed asked, eyeing the closest console along with the Doctor. Link just held to the railing for dear life and tried no to be sick.

"It was nothing," the Doctor brushed it off with a look of relief. He landed the big blue box outside what he claimed was 13 Bannerman Road and looked at both of them seriously. "Sarah Jane's house is just up the driveway I landed in. And boys, I'm coming back. Cross my hearts." He made two crosses over his chests. Link whined and Ed glared, but they both let him ruffle their hair affectionally before they turned to leave the TARDIS for hopefully under two weeks.

Outside it was dark so it was hard to see the house the Doctor landed them in front of clearly, but it looked friendly and inviting at first look. The Doctor patted their shoulders and nodded, returning to the console to prepare to take off when Link and Ed disembarked.

"See you soon, boys," the Doctor bid them farewell.

"You'd better, old man!" Ed crossed his arms at him.

"Good luck," Link said quietly.

As soon as the doors were closed, the wheezing sound filled the air and the blue box started to fade in and out of existence until eventually it was gone all together, the only sign it had been there the two boys who had gotten off and the displaced leaves on the pavement.

"So that's what it looks like," Ed noted. "Not that impressive. I've seen cooler."

"Really? When?" Link asked skeptically, still dazed by the disappearance of the box.

"It's a secret," Ed smiled cockily, giving Link a playful shove, dropping his serious tone he used with the Doctor and falling back into the Ed Link knew. Ed looked up the driveway before Link, who was content to follow Ed with his head down, until he heard Ed swear and saw Ed's fist clench.

"What?" Link looked up at Ed, who looked like he had been charged with the task of posing for the picture under the word 'pissed' in the dictionary. Ed just pointed silently to the number next to the door of the one story house. Link followed his finger and recognized the numbers 5042 but nowhere did it read the number 13. They were in the wrong place.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	7. Wrong Place, Wrong Time

**Chapter 7**

 **Wrong Place, Wrong Time**

* * *

"Shit," Link said when he realized how terribly, terribly lost they were.

"Watch your mouth, kid," Ed said in a monotone, more out of reflex than actual seriousness.

"The Doctor missed again," Link gulped. They had no idea where they were, when they were, or how the Doctor would find them again.

Link's easily won, hard lost faith, loyalty, and optimism in the Doctor was shattered. He felt his world cave in a little more and the chaos that seemed to hound him at every corner of his short life creeped a little closer, nipping at his heels, trying to rip him to shreds.

"What if he did this on purpose, Ed? What if he heard us wanting to stay together and this is punishment? I thought… I thought I could trust him," Link's voice started to crack. "Ed, I'm scared." He reached up and latched onto Ed's clenched fist, noticing how cold it was.

"It'll be fine," Ed tried to say with conviction through his clenched teeth. He unclenched the hand Link was holding onto and held firmly onto Link's shaking hands, knowing that with every betrayal, Link's foundations crumbled and that at least someone had to be strong for him. To let him know he would get through this. That someone cared enough to help him through this. "I'll make it fine. I'll keep us both safe. I promise."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Link whispered desperately, the fear and horror echoing in his words and he looked up to Ed for guidance, like he had looked up to Navi and in some small way Tatl.

"You can trust your big brother, right?" Ed looked down at him and smiled his big dorky grin that Link always found himself imitating whenever it appeared, even in the darkest of situations, and this one was. Once Link felt a little better, he felt Ed squeeze his hand and saw him put the smile away again, taking out a more serious face.

"Kid, I need to be honest with you because hell knows how many times people have lied to you and manipulated you and you don't deserve that. I can't promise I will always be here for you and that I won't ever leave."

"Ed?" Link gazed desperately into the older boy's eyes, afraid Ed was about to leave, like everyone else. "What are you saying?"

"Listen, I don't know the future and I don't know what might happen to me, especially now that we're in the dark in a strange place we know nothing about. We have no idea what to expect so I want to be prepared for anything. I don't know if either of us will ever see our home, friends, or family ever again. But I do know that I can make one promise to you and that is that I will do everything in my power to be the best big brother you've ever heard of, okay? I will do everything in my power to keep us both safe and if push comes to shove and I don't make it, I want you to keep going, okay?"

"Ed, nothing's gonna happen to you," Link squeezed his hand back. "Because I've got your back too. I'm just as capable as you, remember?"

"I do remember, but I'm older and it's my job to be the responsible one. So you don't have to worry as much. Just give me that, kid. It'll make me feel better."

"Alright," Link said. "But that means you're in charge of finding out how to get food and shelter."

"Deal," Ed let go of Link's hand and held out his fist. Link bumped it and they shared a small smile.

"And one more thing," Link said. "I get to use your last name, since I don't have my own."

"Fine by me, little brother," Ed tussled Link's hair. "Now, let's find out where we are. You think who ever lives at 5042 Phillis Street will be happy about two kids ringing their bell and asking for direction at who knows what time, or should we find some other means of asking directions?"

"I dunno, you talked me into letting you be in charge," Link said, crossing his arms like Ed did when he was annoyed.

"I was thinking more a team thing with me having slightly more say than you," Ed admitted. "After all, I'm not unreasonable."

"I think maybe we can risk annoying whoever lives here with a few questions," Link said. "We won't attack them or anything, so at most it'll just annoy them."

"I was thinking that too," Ed nodded. "Here goes, then."

Ed and Link walked up to the front door and Ed pressed the door bell. It chimed joyfully through the house and someone inside began to shuffle to the door. A man not quite yet in his twilight years but by no means in the prime of his youth opened the door. He didn't have a beard but he was unshaved and he looked mildly confused that two boys carrying duffle bags would ring his doorbell this late at night.

"Whadaya want?" He looked drearily at them through eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Cause I ain't buying no popcorn. Your parents know you're here?"

"Ah, no, they don't, exactly," Ed scratched his head sheepishly. "We're kinda lost. We were supposed to get off our bus a while ago to visit Gran in the city but we both fell asleep and missed our stop. Do you know where we are, what time it is, and which way to the nearest pay phone? Or how to get to the city from here? We'd really appreciate it."

"It's eight o'clock, this is Blûdhaven, I don't know a any pay phones round here, and Gotham? It's about a five hour walk from here but if you're lucky you might catch a ride if you hitchhike."

"Thank you, sir," Link said before Ed could say something mildly rude.

"Just, watch yourselves in Gotham, boys," the man said. "It ain't too friendly a place. It's about as worse as they come. Lots a crazy murdering looneys, but you know that. Everyone knows that. When ya get there, get to your gran's as fast as possible. Don't want her to worry none, alright?"

"We'll stay safe, sir," Link said. "Thank you."

"Thanks," Ed turned to go. "We know how to look out for ourselves."

* * *

The two boys did manage to hitch a ride on a fishing truck headed to the Gotham docks, but they had to sit in the back under instructions to duck under the cover if the authorities pass by since sitting in the back of a moving truck on freeway wasn't entirely legal. The five hour walk turned into a forty minute drive and the truck driver dropped them off near the bustling downtown on the central island, which, though it acted like a downtown, was actually called midtown.

The first things Ed did, to Link's mild disapproval, was steal a newspaper from one of the stands along the street. Ed excused that it wasn't technically stealing since the lock had been broken a long time ago so really the paper was free since no one had fixed it. Ed and Link took the paper to the South City Park and sat down on a bench to find out more about the world the Doctor had so ungraciously stranded them on.

According to the Gotham Gazette Ed had snatched, it was June 15, 2014 and some clown called the Joker had escaped Arkham Asylum. Ed didn't feel like reading about a mentally ill person on the loose so he flipped past it with Link looking over his shoulder. On page four there was a story about a man who dressed up as a giant bat and terrorized criminals. Ed commented on how that was his kinda guy, even if it was a questionable way to spend the night, so he read the whole article out loud, at Link's prompting.

Turned out that the Batman was almost Ed's kinda guy except he liked to keep his identity secret, much like someone else they knew. It was a good thing they read the article or they would have been in the dark about how famous Batman and his young sidekick, Robin, were in the city and just what they did for it. And they wouldn't know this was a world of superheroes, like the comics and cartoons Link found in the TARDIS living room.

"Maybe this Batman guy can help us get home?" Link suggested. "He seems like he likes helping people."

"He also likes punching people," Ed pointed out. "And the mask thing reminds me too much of the Doctor. I like justice just as much as the next guy, but people like him and the Doctor take it too seriously. I think we should find it out ourselves."

"Maybe we can just ask?" Link frowned. "We haven't done anything bad so I'm sure he won't attack us or anything."

"Alright, then how can we find him? He's illusive at best. According to one witness he was there at the beginning of their sentence than when they weren't looking at him for the rest of the sentence he pulled a vanishing act. How do we know he'll even listen to us?"

"Because we're different," Link said. Before Ed could raise an eyebrow at that, Link continued. "We're not from around here so that makes us high priority and an unknown variable. He'll want to listen to us to make sure we aren't a threat. And then when he has listened to us…"

"He'll be compelled to help us because it's the right thing to do," Ed finished. "I swear you're creepy sometimes with your sudden insights."

"I'm not creepy," Link pouted.

"Ah, yes, how silly of me," Ed smirked slyly. "You're adorable."

"I hate you," Link playfully shoved Ed. Despite his harsh words, Link spoke them with a smile and Ed returned it in kind and ruffled his hair. Link looked down at his feet again and frowned. "We will be okay." He stated knowingly. "Even if no one helps us but us."

"You'd better believe it," Ed cheered. "Come on. It's getting late. We should find somewhere to stay."

"But we don't have any money," Link said. If there was one thing he knew for certain about the world of adults, it was that they never did anything for a stranger unless they were paid in the local currency or promise of a favor. That included helping children out of the kindness of their heart by gifting things like a safe place to sleep or a decent meal.

"I know cities like this," Ed said. "It's a very big place so I bet we're not the only homeless kids here. Central was just like this. There are homeless shelters and soup kitchens all over, I bet. Plus some churches and religious centers take in the homeless. All we have to do is find the nearest homeless shelter or a nun or something and hope we don't end up getting shoved into the foster care system or an orphanage."

"What's that?" Link asked. He knew Hyrule didn't have anything like homeless shelters or soup kitchens. And the Temple of Time was empty and had no caretaker. Link had spent days just sitting in the Temple on rainy days and spent some nights sleeping in one of the corners and there was no caretaker to his knowledge. And foster care and orphanages were alien to him.

"It's the way the government keeps kids with no parents or home under check," Ed said. "The only reason Al and I managed to avoid getting sent to an orphanage is because we lived in a small town and everyone knew us and knew Granny Pinaco made sure we had food to eat. Plus, the child care system wasn't very uptight, but as time passed, I noticed it getting more and more strict. If that's how it was in Amestris in 1915 and this society's evolved the same way, there's no telling how strict social services are about orphans."

"They wouldn't separate us, would they?"

"We won't let them. If they try, we'll just run away, right?"

"I guess." Link nodded. "Do you think it's okay if we ask people about how to get to the nearest shelter? In Hyrule it was shameful to not have a home and people tried to hide it a lot."

"Judging from the crime rate and just how many homeless people we've seen so far, I'm pretty sure if we asked one of them they wouldn't judge us. We'll get by, kid."

"Okay."

Ed tossed the paper in an overflowing trash bin and they left the park, looking for a homeless person that didn't look like they'd mug them if approached. This task proved slightly more difficult than Ed expected, but they eventually came across an old lady with a shopping cart full of stuffed animals who didn't look like she'd knife them and Ed asked her about any shelters they could stay for the night.

She told them that most of the shelters would be full by this time of night but there might be a space open in one of the Gotham Youth Outreach Shelters. She told them how to find the nearest one, they thanked her, and were on their way. Link kicked a bottle around the sidewalk passively and Ed made sure that Link was always next to him. The city was much, much shadier than he expected.

To get to the nearest GYOS, they had pass by a particularly shady alley. Ed remained on alert, looking both in front of them, behind them, and across the street, but by the time he noticed that any decent people who hung out around the bustling areas were not to be found and were instead replaced with a group of about five hooded men looking to be in their mid-late twenties it was too late and they were surrounded.

The first one approached them from the alley and they were quickly flanked by the other four. All five had weapons of some sort, ranging from lead pipes to switch blades. Ed grabbed a hold of Link, who was too occupied by the bottle he was kicking to notice, and pulled him close for protection. Explicits flew around Ed's head."What do you want?" Ed asked. Link looked up and his eyes widened in fear.

"Your money, duh," the alley one said, flipping his knife in his hands.

"We're broke, leave us alone," Ed answered.

"Yeah, and what's in the bags?" One of the thugs approached them from behind, shoving Ed with his crowbar.

"Our clothes," Ed answered, trying to remain unperturbed. "You're big guys. I doubt anything we have in here'll fit you. Leave us alone." Ed repeated.

"Or what? We'll be sorry?" The one with the knife sneered

"That's a little too cliché for me," Ed admitted. "But it does get the right idea across."

"How about you open those duffle bags, empty the contents on the ground, and hand over whatever's in your pocket like good little boys and then you won't be sorry."

"Or dead," another laughed menacingly.

Ed twitched when the man called him little, but he wasn't a child anymore so he wouldn't let his anger best him. He weighed his options carefully. He realized he shouldn't have had the watch chain visible in a neighborhood like this, it was just asking for trouble. He assumed neither of them would mind handing over their duffles since they only had clothes in them, but the watch was all he had left of his home. He couldn't just give it away. And what said they wouldn't get murdered after handing over their things.

Ed looked down at Link and the glance they exchanged told both of them it was fight or flight. Surrender was not an option. Link was holding to his duffle bag for dear life. He must have put some important things in it.

"You'll have to take them from us," Ed snapped, slinging his duffle over his shoulder and assuming a fighting position facing two guys, one with a knife, the other with iron knuckles. Link did the same and turned the other way so he was facing the three thugs at Ed's back. One had a pipe, another a crowbar, and the third a tire iron.

"Kill 'em," the knife guy said, lunging at Ed, who blocked with his right arm, his sleeve ripping under the knife, revealing shiny metal. With the knife blocked he kicked with his left, knocking the wind out of the guy. He quickly wrenched the knife from the thug, clapped, and it disintegrated in his hands.

This spooked brass knuckle. He punched at Ed's head as quickly as he could, earning the same right arm block as before. When the brass knuckle warped a little around his fingers, the thug hissed in pain, but before Ed could punch or kick, he managed to use the other brass knuckle to sock Ed in the stomach, making Ed collapse in pain on the ground, clutching his stomach and coughing.

"Watch out, this one's a meta!" The knuckle thug called to the three other guys.

"Ed!" Link looked behind him momentarily. While Ed had been occupied with the knife and knuckle thugs, Link had expertly dodged the swings from the pipe, crowbar, and tire iron and managed to twist under the pipe thug and quickly punch at his elbow, making him drop the pipe. Link quickly picked it up and wielded it as a sword, kneecapping the thug previously in possession of the pipe.

When he saw Ed in distress, he jumped to the rescue and smashed down on the knuckle thug before he could land a blow to Ed's head. With two thugs on the ground in pain and the knife thug returning to the fray, Ed desperately tried to get back to his feet to help Link against the thugs, two of which were armed.

Link managed to block all blows directed at him and land one or two blows himself, but the knife thug grabbed Ed by the hair while he was down and tried to twist him into a strangle hole. Ed responded by desperately kicking the guy's crotch with his metal leg. He was released immediately and the guy screamed in pain, clutching his parts and curling up into a ball on the ground, tears streaming down his face.

"Don't touch my hair," Ed snapped, turning on the remaining two thugs as they spared with Link just in time to see the crowbar break through Link's defenses and slam into the boy's left lower arm with a sickening crunch. Link didn't scream, but he did hiss in pain and drop the pipe to the ground, holding his arm biting his lip.

"Hey!" Ed sprung into action with a flying kick to the crowbar thug's chest, definitely breaking a few ribs. The guy was down in seconds, leaving just one guy left, looking at his four friends in varying degrees of pain on the ground and one superpowered kid glaring at him with murder in his eyes. He bolted down the street, leaving his friends behind to save his own hide.

"Well, that's what you get!" Ed snapped, shrugging his shoulders and kneeling down next to Link. "Come on, let's get that arm looked at, okay?"

Link nodded, biting back tears.

Ed helped him to his feet and they continued down the street until they reached the shelter a few blocks down. Link noticed an odd itching that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, but he couldn't place what was causing it and he was too distracted by his broken arm to give it much thought.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	8. A Gothic Carnaval of Masks

_In the first draft of the story, this chapter was called "_ Good Cop, Bad Cop, Red Cop, Blue Cop _" and it's the chapter title I'm the most proud of from the first draft, along with some other gems: "_ All's Pleasent in Pleasentville _", "_ Dead Men Tell Tall Tales _", "_ The Plot, It Has Thickened _", and "_ Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra _". Really sad those titles didn't make it into the final draft. Maybe I'll work them somehow. I hope so._

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 **A Gothic Carnaval of Masks**

* * *

The shelter was an old, remodeled church. The church building itself was converted into a soup kitchen, but they'd missed dinner, and from what Ed could tell, the event hall across the courtyard had been converted into the shelter itself. It smelled like sewage, body order, and potato soup. There was a table under a large, blue plastic tent at one end of the courtyard where volunteers were handing out blankets to single adults. The disabled and families with children were allowed into the event hall to sleep in the actual events. Since Ed fit into both categories, he was confident they'd have a warm meal and a safer place to sleep. He'd already tucked his watch out of sight.

As soon as they entered the church grounds, a middle aged woman rushed to them, eager to help ease Link's stress. She had a blanket with her and gently dropped it over Link's shoulders. It took all of Ed's self control not to snarl at her the moment she got too close to Link.

"What happened, sweetheart?" She cooed. "Come on, let's get you two inside. Kathy, get a first aid kit and call the clinic."

"The nurse is still here. I'll go get her," another woman went into a side entrance where the church and the event hall met.

Link wearily let the woman mother him into the church, and Ed followed cautiously, ready for anything. Inside, the podium had been turned into a portable kitchen area and the pews had been turned to face one another, with tables in between. The woman pulled up a foldable chair for Link since he would have had a difficult time getting into the pews. She quickly busied herself reheating a small can of stew for them.

Ed sat down next to Link and sighed. "This kinda sucks, huh?"

Link nodded, sniffling.

"We'll be okay," Ed said it like it was fact. "It'll work out. I'll make it work out."

"Are you okay?" Link asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"You've got a broken arm, kid. You don't have to worry about me."

"But you got hit, too," Link said. "You could have a broken rib or something."

"Nah, he socked me too low to hit anything important," Ed joked.

"Ed! That is too important! You could have internal bleeding or something!"

"I'll be fine as long as you're fine."

"You're such an ass!" Link snapped.

"I'm just trying to protect you!" Ed snapped back.

"Well, I don't need it! I never asked you to!"

Ed grumbled, but didn't respond.

Link shifted angrily, aggravating his arm. He hissed in pain, but managed to keep back any more distressing noises.

"Here you are, dears," the woman set two bowls of stew down next to them, both with some cornbread on the side. "The cornbread was fresh an hour ago, but you know how that stuff cools."

"Thank you," Link said quietly. He didn't eat the food, though. He didn't want to move too much lest he hurt his arm. He wasn't hungry enough to try and eat food with an untreated broken arm. Ed didn't touch his food either. The silence thickened.

"So, tell me, what are your names?" The woman asked sitting across from Ed. "You don't have to tell me."

They didn't.

"I'm Pam," the woman said.

"Link," Link finally said. "He's Ed."

"Those are fine names."

"Guess so," Link mumbled.

Before the awkward conversation could continue, the nurse entered the church. She was a short, stout woman with thick, curly hair, black and silver horn-rimmed glasses, and dark bags under her eyes. She didn't look like she'd slept at all that week. She was wearing mint green scrubs with a black windbreaker over it and had a medical kit tucked under one arm.

"Where's my next patient?" She slurred, rubbing her eyes and stifling back a yawn.

"Here," Link squeaked quietly. He was more than ready to do something about the pain in his arm.

The nurse knelt down in front of Link and pulled herself together. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Broken arm," Link mumbled.

She looked a little closer and nodded. "Left?"

Link nodded.

"I'll put it in a splint, but we'll have to go to the urgent care clinic to put it in a cast, if it needs one."

"Doesn't feel like a bad break."

"What happened?"

"He fell down the stairs," Ed answered before Link could tell her the truth.

Link shot him a glare, but he didn't correct him.

"Sure," the nurse nodded. She knew Ed was lying, she'd heard it before. "Can you take your jacket off?"

Link looked down at his arm and frowned. He shook his head.

"Alright, I'll splint it as is. My shift here's almost over so I can drive you to the clinic myself. Is that alright?"

Link nodded.

She placed her medical kit on the ground, opened it, and pulled out a blue cloth and a sling. Gently, she took Link's wrist in her hand and stretched out his arm. Link bit his lip to stop from crying out. She wrapped the splint around his lower arm. The relief wasn't complete, but Link relaxed a little. Once that was done, she slipped it into the sling and strapped it over his shoulder. While she worked, she asked for their names. Link gave them to her, but Ed didn't speak.

"There, that should do for now. We can do something better at the clinic," the nurse sighed.

"Thank you," Link mumbled.

"I assume you want to eat now?"

Link nodded.

"I'll wait. We can go when you're done," the nurse lay down on the floor and put an arm over her face. She let out a deep sigh.

The stew wasn't cold, but it wasn't hot anymore, either. It was still much better than nothing. The cornbread was sweet, and Link enjoyed it. He was under the impression that while the nurse was treating his arm, Ed slipped some of his stew into Link's bowl, but he wasn't sure. The only evidence he had was Ed finished much quicker than he did, and he was certain if he brought it up, Ed would have a long list of excuses. Link appreciated Ed looking out for him, but he didn't appreciate Ed sacrificing his own needs to do so.

When they finished, the nurse lead them to her car in the parking lot. It was small, silver, and the bumper was covered in rust. The trunk had a graffiti tag on it. The woman glared at the tag before resigning herself to its presence. Link noticed her check the back seat before reaching for her keys.

"You are a much better patient than meth heads," the nurse said as she was unlocking her car. "Honestly, you're the best patient I've had."

"Oh… um… thanks, I guess."

"No, I mean it," the nurse insisted. "It looks like a decent break, and you're not even crying. That's very brave."

"Oh, yeah, I guess. Just used to it, s'pose," Link shrugged. "It's not scary or anything."

The nurse didn't have anything to say to that. "So, do either of you want to sit in the front?"

Link shook his head, and Ed declined.

"Alright. Pardon the mess, haven't had time to clean anything," she cleared a few tissue boxes and wrappers from the back seat before they piled in. "Think this is a mess, you should see my apartment," she joked, getting in the car and starting up the engine. "We're just a few blocks away, so we should be there in five minutes. There aren't a lot of cars at night, so no traffic. Most people prefer to walk or take the train."

The nurse continued talking as they drove. From how exhausted she looked, Link assumed it was so she wouldn't fall asleep behind the wheel and crash her giant metal can of death into a building. Neither Link nor Ed listened. She was just commenting on how odd it was that the light was red when it had been flashing yellow on her way to the church last night when five large, black, armored vehicles pulled up alongside them, surrounding them.

"Oh crap!" The nurse hissed, genuine fear in her voice. That grabbed their attention.

"What's happening?" Link asked.

"It'll be okay. I'm sure they think we're someone else," the woman said nervously. "Please be the police, please be the police," she whispered. She didn't know Link could hear her.

At least a dozen men wearing black clothing, but each had on a different, brightly colored mask. They were all carrying guns. "Give us the boys and nobody gets hurt," one of them shouted, banging on the window.

"Well, shit," Ed said.

"What did you do?" The nurse hissed.

"I have no idea," Ed answered.

"Unlock the doors," the same man said, knocking on her window.

"What do we do?" The nurse whispered. "I can't just hand you over to them."

"Sure, get shot, that's a brilliant plan," Ed snapped back, just as quietly. "I may be overconfident sometimes, but this is not one of them. I'm not an idiot. We're vastly outmatched, there's probably more of them that didn't get out of them van, and they look mad enough to shoot. Unless your car is bullet proof, it doesn't look like we have much of a choice."

"We could… wait for Batman," the nurse suggested.

"I'm gonna count to three and if those boys are out of the car when I get to one, I'll shoot you through the window. Do you really think your car can stop a 50 caliber bullet?"

"Glass is really strong," Ed said. "It'll deflect off and hit them… most likely… probably… I hope?"

"Ed, can't you make the car stronger?" Link asked.

"Yes, but not reliably. And I'm pretty sure they'll get trigger happy the moment they see the car changing and it'll be much weaker mid transfiguration."

"Three!"

"Okay, okay, we have to think of something," the nurse panicked.

"Two!"

"Open the door," Ed said. "We'll be alright."

"But…"

"One!"

He lifted the gun and the nurse screamed, unlocking the doors.

"Grab 'em!" The man shouted, pulling the driver door open and yanking the woman out of the car by her hair and throwing her onto the pavement.

Two more thugs yanked Ed and Link out of the car, one dragged Link towards one of the vehicles, kicking and screaming, while the other slammed the butt of his rifle into Ed's forehead hard enough to daze him.

"Ed! Ed!" Link cried, clawing at the man holding him by the jacket. But he couldn't get away with a broken arm. Link was shoved into one armored vehicle while Ed was carried into another, barely putting up a struggle as he fought to remain conscious. Once Link was in the back of the vehicle, they forced a bag over his head and cuffed his good hand to an arm on one of the seats.

They made no effort to be gentle with Link's broken arm. Link tried to be strong. He tried to be brave, like the nurse and so many other people said he was, but he couldn't help but cry. He didn't know who these people were, what they were going to do to them, or where they were going. He didn't know if he was ever going to see Ed again, either. And that scared him the most.

(1)

In another of the armored vehicles, Ed was blindfolded and his hands were cuffed to the arms of a seat, preventing him from clapping his hands together and unleashing hell on the bastards who dared hurt Link and the nurse who'd helped them.

"I don't know who you are and I don't know what you want with me, but if you hurt my little brother, I'll…"

A hand collided with his face, interrupting his threat. "Save it for the boss, you meta freak."

"Fuck you!" Ed shouted, pulling against the cuffs.

Ed hear the sound of a gun being lifted to strike him. He braced himself for the blow, but it didn't come.

"It's not worth it, man. He's trying to get a reaction out of you. If you really want to piss him off, ignore him."

"Yeah? Well how about I ignore him after I beat the shit out of him."

"The boss wants him unhurt, remember? 'Sides, you know how angry the boss gets. He'll be sorry he ever crossed paths with us after the boss is through with him."

"Heh, yeah. You're right. Can't wait to see that."

(1)

They drove for at least an hour, whether it was because their destination was far away or because they wanted to confuse Ed on the whereabouts of their hideout, he couldn't say. When they did finally arrive, the two thugs uncuffed Ed but held his arms. He struggled against them, but their combined strength outmatched his own. He resisted them nonetheless. He was determined to make their lives as miserable as he could. Let them beat him all they wanted, he wasn't going down without a fight.

They dragged him out of the vehicle and into a building of some sort, but they didn't remove his blindfold, so he still had no idea where he was. If he had to guess, he'd say it was probably an abandoned warehouse. Thugs like these seemed like they'd be right at home setting up their operation in a place like that.

The two thugs threw Ed to his knees, releasing his arms. Ed immediately pulled of the blindfold and lunged at the first person he saw, a tall, smartly dress man who had his back turned to him. Ed thought he'd land a blow easily, but the man turned around last minute, grabbing him by the arm and using his momentum to fling him into a cement support beam.

The impact winded Ed, and before he could get back up, the man stepped on his metal hand, preventing him from doing much of anything. Ed struggled, hitting at the man's leg in an attempt to get him off of him, but the man was unperturbed by anything Ed could throw at him. Calmly, he bent down and grabbed Ed's left arm in one hand and slapped a high tech bracelet onto Ed's wrist with the other. Then, he stepped off of Ed's hand and let him get back to his feet.

Ed clapped his hands together to try and transmute his spear, but the moment his hands met, he realized something was wrong. He couldn't access his alchemy. "What the…"

"Like it?" The man asked. "I acquired a few as soon as I heard about them. They're meta inhibiting cuffs, designed by the government to subdue and control meta powered criminals. Can't be too careful, these days. Of course, they don't work to their full potential on the Batman. But you, on the other hand. I believe they work quite nicely."

"I can still punch you!" Ed snarled, through another swing at the man.

The man grabbed Ed's fist and punched him in the stomach hard enough to wind him. It didn't help that he'd been hit there with a brass knuckle earlier. Ed fell to his knees, clutching his stomach and coughing. "I wouldn't be too sure of that, boy."

"Screw you," Ed coughed.

The man kicked him the face, knocking him onto his side. Ed instinctively curled into the fetal position and covered his head with his arms. The man grabbed him by the hair and wrenched him to his feet, slamming him against the cement pillar and pinning him there by his neck. Ed got a good look at the man's face. Or what was supposed to be his face.

Where his face was supposed to be there was instead an angry black skull. The man could show no emotion with his face but with the intensity of his red eyes, he didn't need too. His eyes were cold, calculating, and menacing. They sized Ed up and bored right through him. He didn't look like he was very happy.

"I could continue to demonstrate how much power I have over you, or we could get to business. What do you say?"

Ed spit blood in his face.

"Very well," the man dragged Ed by the hood of his jacket to the covered table. He pulled the tablecloth away, revealing what was underneath. "Choose."

An assortment of items were laid out on display. None of them were very friendly items. There was a crowbar, a baseball bat, a wrench, a pipe, a set of brass knuckles, a belt, pliers, and a knife. The meaning was clear.

Ed clenched his jaw and refused to answer.

"I suppose I should inform you that if you do not choose, I will take the one of my liking and beat your little brother with it. I was thinking the wrench. The heavy end can leave quite the colorful bruise. It's art, really. On the other hand," he picked up the knife and flipped it around in his hand. "I do love watching people bleed. Though I suppose slitting his throat will only work once."

Ed glared at the man and then back at the table. "The belt," he said, his voice shaky. There was no point in picking a harder tool out of spite. The less he was beaten, the better chance he stood of escaping and rescuing Link.

"Practical," the man nodded, picking it up and looping it in his hand.

He didn't give Ed any time to prepare for the first strike and immediately thrashed it against his face, sending him onto his back and shouting in shock and pain. Ed rolled over onto his stomach and once against adopted the fetal position, trying to cover his stinging face with his arms. The man continued to thrash the belt against him, but he refused to show anymore pain. He thought of shielding Link from this twisted, evil man and his sick taste for torturing children, and the beating became much more bearable.

The man continued to hit him for several minutes, not letting up, until Ed couldn't hold back the tears of pain that were welling up in his eyes. It felt like the torment dragged on for an eternity. When he finally stopped, Ed was shaking on the floor, feeling like his side and back were on fire, or falling off, or both.

"Had enough?" The man asked, twisting the belt in his hands. "Or shall I grab another?"

"Enough," Ed snarled. He hated admitting defeat, but he was no use to Link beaten to death from stupidity.

"Good. I'm glad you know who's in charge." He turned to the two thugs, who had stood and watched as their boss tortured a child. Even the one who had threatened to beat the shit out of Ed looked uncomfortable, but they were both much too afraid of their boss to do anything against him. "You may leave."

"Yes, boss," they muttered, leaving quickly.

"Now," he turned to Ed, who was still lying on the ground. "Get up."

Ed shakily pushed himself to his feet. His hurting back protested, but he ignored it.

"I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I am Black Mask,"

"Bit on the nose," Ed remarked.

Black Mask slapped him across the face with the belt. Ed shut his mouth.

"You will do everything I tell you as soon as I tell you. I tell you to jump…"

"And I ask how high. I get it," Ed snapped.

"Don't talk back to me," Black Mask snarled, threatening Ed with the belt once more.

Ed flinched, and he hated himself for it.

"Now, you and your brother took down four of my men earlier. Your brother was responsible for three of them being hospitalized, if I'm not mistaken. He'll have to be punished for that, of course."

"You can't…" Ed started to protest, but was interrupted by another slap with the belt.

"I am willing to transfer that punishment to you, if you behave, that is. I'm sure you'd like that."

Ed looked down at his feet and angrily clenched his jaw. "So what? I do everything you tell me, and I still get beat?"

"Unless you want your little brother to be on the receiving end," Black Mask snarled. "You wouldn't want that."

"Bastard," Ed snarled.

Black Mask, grabbed Ed by his hair and threw him to his knees. "Shut up!" He gave him five more thrashings with the belt.

"I'm sorry!" Ed finally cried, covering his face. "I'm sorry. Stop hitting me."

"I am aware you have some very useful traits, do you not?"

Ed look down at the floor and didn't answer.

"Disintegrating a knife with your bare hands, yes?"

Ed still didn't answer.

"You answer me when I ask you a question!" Black Mask shouted.

Ed flinched. "Yes," he answered, slowly falling into hopelessness and despair.

"Tell me more."

"It… it's called alchemy. I can…"

"Transmute things into other things. I'm familiar with the practice. But how did you disintegrate the knife?"

"The three steps of alchemy are comprehension, deconstruction, and reconstruction. I specialize in metals, so the comprehension wasn't too difficult. I just stopped at deconstruction."

"You dismantled it and just never put it back together."

"Basically, yes."

"Does this work with larger objects?"

"Yeah. But if you're asking me to make you a bunch of gold or money or something…"

"You think I'm an idiot? Flooding the market with something will only make it worthless. If I want the most out of my money, I'll have to take preexisting money."

"I'm not…"

"Robbing banks for me? Yes, you are, or your little brother pays the price."

Ed grimaced.

"You know how forceful I can be. You wouldn't wish that on your sweet, innocent little baby brother, would you? You wouldn't want to see him crying at my feet, covered in his own blood, begging for mercy as I beat him to death would you?"

"Stop," Ed closed his eyes, trying to force the image out of his mind. "Stop, please."

"Let's be upfront with one another. So that I know what I'm getting. If I told you to kill, would you?"

"No," Ed said.

"Even if it meant your brother would die instead? Would you pull the trigger on someone if it meant saving your little brother."

"I can't," Ed said.

"Even if I had a knife to his throat? A gun to his head?"

"Stop, please," Ed cried, covering his ears. "I can't. I can't."

"You'd open a safe, though, right? It's just money. I'm sure your little brother is worth all the money in the world to you. He's just not worth another life."

"I can't… I can't trade lives. It isn't right."

"You're young. Perhaps you'll learn to feel differently in time."

"Where's my little brother?"

"He's safe, as long as you behave. That's all you need to know."

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review. If you're on the app and downloaded the story, please try to find time to favorite, follow, and review the story. I don't get any favorites, follows, or even views for people who download the story on the app and I have no way of knowning you like the story otherwise! I would love to hear from you all!_


	9. Houdini of Time

**Chapter 9**

 **Houdini of Time**

* * *

When the van stopped, the thugs roughly grabbed Link and manhandled him into a drafty building. They didn't take the hood off, so Link didn't know exactly where he was. He'd take the hood off himself, but they had him by his good arm. And his bad arm was still broken, so he could fight back without risking hurting it more and ending up with a bum arm.

They shoved him into a small room that smelled of mildew and dust. They slammed the door behind him. As Link pulled the hood off, he heard the door lock behind him. Looking around, he saw that he was in an old supply closet. Most of the supplies had been removed, but there was a box of paper clips in one corner. Link remembered Clara had a bag of them.

It was a tall room with a bunch of shelves on one side, with a mattress and an old quilt underneath the bottom shelf. Tracks on the shelves revealed that the room had once had a ladder to reach the top shelves, but it'd been removed. The only light was filtering in from a broken window near the top of the room. The glass was broken, but it was covered in a rusted metal grate that looked welded on.

At this point, he'd completely lost track of his and Ed' duffle bags, which was unfortunate as he had his hero's bag with all of his hero items in there. He was unarmed, locked in a small room, and had a broken arm. Things were not looking good. He'd have to use the things on hand to escape and find Ed. Hopefully, the nice nurse still had their bags, so all he had to do was find her to get them back.

Quietly, Link went through the box of paper clips. He could pick the lock on the door, but from the sound of clinking beer bottles, shuffling cards, and the occasional disgruntled accusation, there were at least three thugs outside the door playing some kind of card game. They'd know if he tried to pick the lock. This left the window.

The ladder may have been gone, but the shelves were still in place. He could climb up the window and use the paper clips to get the grate off so he could slip through and escape. Link quickly got to work using the paper clips to make something suitable for scraping away rusted metal.

Half an hour in to bending and twisting the paper clips together, the thugs started to get hungry. One of them knocked on the door and Link desperately shoved his creation back into the box, burying it under the rest of the paper clips.

"Hey, brat, we're or ding a pizza, what kind do ya like?" He shouted through the door.

"I've never had pizza before," Link admitted.

"You've never had pizza before? What kinda kid are you?"

"Um, I dunno. The kind that's never had pizza, I guess?"

"The kid's never had pizza before!" The thug left the door to complain to his friends.

"We'll just get him cheese. Kids love cheese pizza."

They argued over what toppings they wanted on their pizza for at least ten minutes, and Link went back to perfecting his paper clip invention. They informed Link that the pizza would arrive in twenty minutes. One of the thugs left to get it, since they didn't think the Boss would like it if they gave out their address to anyone, so now there were only two thugs guarding the door.

If only there'd been a broom in the closet, Link could have taken them on, even with his broken arm. But there were only paper clips.

Soon, Link was satisfied with his creation, and decided to try the shelves to see if they'd support his weight. Gingerly, he leaned on one of the lower ones and it creaked under his weight, but it didn't break. The paint was pealing off and Link could smell the rot in the wood, making him gag. He decided to wait until after the pizza to try and climb out of the closet. He hid his devise again, sat against the wall opposite of the door, and patiently waited. He didn't have to wait long.

"Pizza's here," the same thug as before knocked on the door. "I'm gonna open the door, alright? Don't try to escape. I'd hate to have to hurt you."

He unlocked the door and Link stood up. He watched wearily as the man held out a rough paper plate with three slices of greasy, cheesy pizza, so fresh the cheese was melting off the sides of the slices. It smelled really good, but Link was worried the man would refuse to give it to him or strike out at him if he got too close.

"What's the matter? I won't hurt you if you act like a nice little brat," the man offered the pizza a bit more enthusiastically, gently shaking the plate.

"If you're not gonna hurt me, why'd you kidnap me?" Link asked, making an active effort to sound scared and unthreatening so that if the opportunity came to fight his way to freedom, it would come as a surprise to his captors.

"Look, boss wasn't after you, he wants your brother. You're leverage."

"Leverage?"

"Yeah, if he doesn't do what the boss says, then you get hurt. As long as everybody's nice, nobody gets hurts, alright? Now take the damn pizza, my arms getting tired and we're watching the game."

Link timidly took the plate, careful to keep his distance, and retreated back against the wall the moment he had a secure grip on the plate. The man huffed at his scared behavior, and returned to his buddies, locking the door behind him. Link could hear the 'game' from outside the door. Occasionally, it would get even louder and the men would scream with either anger or elation. Whatever it was, Link hoped it would provide a good enough distraction for him to escape unnoticed.

Link sat down on the floor again and took a tentative bite of the pizza. He gasped a little at the taste of it, and quickly devoured the first slice. The greasiness of the cheese, the tanginess of the sauce, the crunchiness of the bread, everything was new and exciting and delicious. If only the circumstances of his first slice of pizza were better and he weren't being held hostage, then it would have been perfect.

Once the first slice was completely gone, Navi's words echoed in his head. 'If you eat it too fast, you'll miss all the flavor! Savor it. Besides, you know if you eat too fast, you could get sick.' Link loved Navi like a mother, but sometimes her advice was unwelcome, though it wasn't without it merits. Link slowed down and savored the last two slices. With an appetite like his, he felt like he could still eat three more slices, but he decided against it.

When the pizza was gone, Link wiped the grease off on his pants, wishing they'd thought to give him napkins, but too worried about bringing attention to himself lest they discover his escape attempt. With clean fingers and a full stomach, Link faced the shelves and steeled himself for a grueling climb. It wouldn't be easy with the rotting state of the wood and a broken arm, but it was worth the risk.

Link took a deep breath, and clambered up the first shelf, his paper clip device hidden in his pocket. The moment his feet were secure on the bottom shelf and his arms grasping on the third, the whole unit gave out a loud, creaking moan that echoed through the closet. Link froze, listening to see if the men had heard it, but a shout of joy and an exclamation of 'what a pass' and Link knew they were still to focus on their game to hear any noise Link made, so long as it wasn't too loud.

With painful determination, Link made it all the way up to the top. From there he could see out the window. Despite the window being so high up in the room, the floor they were on was mostly underground, so the ground was directly outside the window. From what little Link could see, it looked like a parking lot, lit only by a few street lamps pouring out orange light.

He reached out with the paper clips, precariously hanging on with only his feet and his broken arm, clenching his teeth in pain, but ignoring the fire in his arm. He somehow managed to secure the apparatus to the first screw and began twisting it away, wincing when it let out a piteous shriek of rusted metal on rusted metal. Flakes of rust drifted down to floor as the paper clips rubbed against the rusted surface of the grating.

When the first screw fell, pinging against the cement floor, Link scrambled to get his good arm back on the shelves to give his broken one a much needed break. He didn't notice the cold sweat growing on his brow until it dripped into his eyes. Wiping the sweat away, he got to work removing the second and third screw.

Now, only one screw stood between him and freedom. Unfortunately, it was farther away than the other three, and Link couldn't reach it. Link stretched as far he could, but he'd have to shift his weight to the other side of the shelves to reach the final screw. The other side of the shelves was in much worse condition than the side he was currently standing on.

He tried once more to reach from where he was, but he nearly slipped and fell. Gasping, Link scrambled to regain his balance. He took three deep breaths and then, carefully, he shimmied over to the other side of the shelf. The groaning of the wood was enough to send shivers up Link's spine. The wood sagged under his weight.

Link was not sure the wood would hold, but he had to try. Not even bothering to wipe away the sweat this time, Link reached out with the paper clips and attached it to the final screw. As quickly as he could, he loosened it, one screeching twist at a time, doing his best not to shift his weight on the weakening wood.

"Almost," Link hissed. "Al… most… there!" Link squeaked in excitement as the final screw came loose and the grate fell. But the grate was much larger than the screws, and when it hit the cement, it made a deafening clang. Link flinched, nearly jumping out of his skin at the sound. But it was the sound that came next that froze him where he was. Wood wasn't supposed to make that noise. Especially not when Link was standing on it.

With a quiet 'eep!' and then and a startled scream, the shelf collapsed under Link and he tumbled to the floor, the back of his head smacking against the cement wall across from the shelves. His ears were ringing, and his sight was swimming in and out of focus.

"What was that?" Link heard, though it sounded much farther off than just the other side of the door.

Panicked, Link tried to get to his feet, but all he could manage was a sitting position away from the wall where he fell. There was a dark stain where he'd hit, and he gingerly felt the back of his head, startled to find his fingers came back red, sticky, and warm. "That's bad," Link muttered.

"Open the damn door!" One of the thugs shouted. Link watched in abject horror as the doorknob jiggled.

The door slammed wide open, the thugs crowded on the other side, and Link cowered in fear, too dazed to even think about defending himself.

"What?" The thug who'd opened the door look around the room, trying to assess what had happened. When he saw one of the top shelves in splinters on the floor, the window grate and four screws next to it, he put two and two together and concluded that Link had made an attempt to escape. "Dammit, you little brat!" The man shouted. "I told you to fucking behave, and what do you do‽" The thug stalked towards him. "You try and escape! That's not behaving, you little shit stain!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Link cried, covering his face with his good arm and shrinking against the wall. "Please don't hit me! I just want to go home! I want my big brother! Please!"

"I hate beating on little kids, man," the thug complained, but pulling off his belt all the same. "But if the boss comes and he sees you tried to escape and nobody punished you, who do you think's gonna take the blame?" He brought the belt down over Link's cowering figure, drawing a pained scream. "Us, that's who!" He hit Link again. "And then the boss'll be beating on us!" Another strike. "And he's not very good at pulling punches." Yet another strike.

"Stop!" Link cried. "Stop, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Hey, man, think he's had enough," one of the other thugs pulled his friend off of Link. "He's just a little kid."

"I know that," the thug said, stretching his shoulders and putting his belt back on. "Just following orders. I ain't no kid beater, but I ain't no idiot either. Rather he get beat than me. You seen what the boss does to people who piss him off. You wanna piss him off, man?"

"Hell, no!"

"He gave us orders to beat the brat if he tries any funny business. We don't beat him for this stunt, and it's our asses on the line. I beat him, problem solved. You gonna try that again, boy?" The thug pointed an accusatory finger at Link where he cowered against the wall, sniffling.

Pitifully, Link shook his head and wiped tears from his face with his sleeve. Truthfully, this may have been his first escape attempt but it wouldn't be his last. But he wasn't lying. The shelf had broken, there was no way he'd be able to try that again. And the more terrified he looked, the more they'd think he meant it.

"I'm taking this," the thug said, grabbing Link's paper clip contraption. "And these," he took the rest of the paper clips for good measure.

Link slunk to the mattress and swiped off chunks of rotten wood. He wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and tried to go to sleep. His arm hurt where the thug had struck him with his belt, but not as much as his head or his broken arm. He tried reminding himself he'd slept in worse places in worse pain, but it wasn't as comforting as he'd intended it to be.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review. If you're on the app and downloaded the story, please try to find time to favorite, follow, and review the story. I don't get any favorites, follows, or even views for people who download the story on the app and I have no way of knowning you like the story otherwise! I would love to hear from you all!_


	10. The Batsignal

**Chapter 10**

 **The Physical Bat Signal But Titles Can't be Images**

* * *

The next afternoon, Black Mask had Ed brought before him. The goons shoved Ed to his knees and, angrily, he allowed it. He didn't know if they'd start chopping fingers from Link if he fought back, and Link's wellbeing was the first thing on his list of priorities. He spent the last twenty four hours trying to figure out where they were keeping him, but he'd had little luck.

"What do you want?"

"Ready for your first job?" Black Mask asked, not even looking at Ed.

"Screw you!" Ed snapped habitually.

Black Mask backhanded him without hesitation. "There's a jewelry store under my protection that hasn't been keeping up with their payments. You and Jonny's gang are gonna go down there and find out why. And you'll also be emptying their safe, of course. Destroy all of it."

"You don't want to keep it?"

"Power is worth more than wealth, boy," Black Mask snarled. "If they won't respect that, then they'll lose everything. And if you don't respect me, it will be your brother who loses. You know what will happen to him if you don't do as I say."

"Yeah, sure," Ed glared at the floor, angry at himself and angry at Black Mask. But mostly he was pissed at the Doctor for not even checking to make sure they were in the right place before leaving them behind.

Ed felt horrible. The jewelry store was a small, family owned business. When five of Black Mask's goons walked in with their assault rifles, strutting like peacocks, Ed could have sworn he saw an elderly woman carry a small child out the back in a panic. The man at the counter stiffened, and began stuttering.

"W-w-w-welcome, gentle… gentlemen. H-how can I be of service?"

"You're late on your payment, old man," the lead crony, Jonny, said, resting an arm on the counter while the other four goons looked around and the expensive merchandise.

"Look, I-I-I don't have… have the money right now. But I'll get it to you, I promise! Just give me some more time too…"

"Take us to the safe," Jonny snapped.

He grabbed Ed by the shoulder of his coat and dragged him into the back office of the store. The owner, flustered, followed them, insisting he only had one key and it took two to open. They wouldn't be able to get to the merchandise. Jonny practically threw Ed at the safe.

"Lose the door," he ordered.

Ed answered with a glare. "Make me," he snarled.

Jonny cocked his gun and shot the owner in the foot. The old man fell to the ground, screaming in pain, desperately trying to staunch the bleeding. Ed tried to make a move against Jonny, but Jonny's next act was to slam the butt of the gun into Ed's stomach, winding him and sending him to his knees. He pressed the barrel to Ed's head and snarled, "The door, now. I won't ask a third time."

Not dropping his glare, Ed stubbornly got back to his feet and disintegrated the safe door. Jonny shoved Ed into the safe. Most of the jewelry in the safe was in smaller boxes that lined the walls, but a good deal of it was still in the display boxes on a wheeled cart in the middle of the room.

"Boys," Jonny whistled for the rest of his gang to get in the safe. "Pile the goods on the cart."

"No, please," the poor old man cried, still in a great deal of pain. "This store, it's all I have!"

The goons ignored him and dumped all of the jewelry onto the cart in one big pile, tangling the necklaces while the rings and loose gems tumbled into the jumbled mess, disappearing in the mountain of gold and silver chains and pear strings.

"Why don't we liquidate the good man's assets?" Ed didn't move. Jonny slapped the back of Ed's head. "I said, liquidate it, you little shit!"

"This business, it's the only thing keeping my family off the streets!" The owner pleaded. "Please!"

"Shut up!" Jonny turned his gun back to the old man, who cowered and sobbed. "You," he grabbed Ed's sleeve and shook him. "The boss told you to do what I say, so do what I say, or the next person who gets shot in the foot will be your little baby brother, got it?"

Ed did his best to block out the old man's sobbing and begging, closed his eyes, and, painfully, forced himself to turn the entire pile of jewelry into gray mush; all of the different precious metals, gems, diamonds, and pearls amalgamated into a puddle of gray, worthless matter that dripped off the edges of the cart and onto the floor. When the deed was done, the goons flipped the cart over, sending the goop everywhere against the walls of the safe.

The owner wailed in grief. Ed felt horrible. This wasn't what alchemy was for, but Link was worth more to Ed than gold, silver, and diamonds. He just wished it didn't have to also be the livelihood of the jeweler's family.

"We're done here, let's go," Jonny grabbed Ed by his sleeve once more and dragged him out of the safe. He paused after stepping over the old man, then, before Ed could stop him, he shot the old man in the chest.

"Why did you do that!" Ed screamed, struggling against his captor. "You said we were done! You…"

Jonny slammed the butt of his gun into Ed's head, knocking the sense out of him. Two of the other goons rushed to restrain him, one on each arm, before he had time to recover from the blow. "Don't you ever talk to me like that, you little bitch."

"You killed him, you bastard!" Ed snarled as soon as his head stopped spinning. "You killed him!" He kicked out, trying to break free from the men holding him back.

Jonny pulled out the remote for the meta-restraint on Ed's wrist and flipped the switch, cutting Ed off from his alchemy.

"Can we let him go now?" One goon asked.

"Let's get him back to Black Mask first," Jonny said.

Ed spit on him, earning a swift backhand. The goons dragged him out of the store, still fighting, and when they got him back into the car, they had to handcuff him to the door to stop him from trying to strangle their leader. Ed rested his head against the cold glass of the window and closed his eyes, trying to quell his anger and stop from crying.

* * *

Gordon didn't usually respond to possible homicide calls anymore, but his office was starting to feel stale and if he had to be honest, he was mostly trying to get away from the papers that had piled up on his desk. And he hadn't worked a normal case in a while, it'd be nice to work a case that didn't require the use of the Bat-Signal.

The report came from a shaken old woman with a small child crying in the background. She claimed six members of the Black Mask gang had entered their jewelry store and she had taken their granddaughter out the back to keep her from experiencing something a three year old shouldn't have to, but while she waited for her husband to come out and tell her the men had left, she heard gunfire and feared the worst. She didn't go back in to the scene and dispatch hadn't seen any sign of activity in the store when they went to check it out, but the door was unlocked and the lights were on.

When Gordon and Bullock arrived at the scene, the two dispatch officers had the old woman and her granddaughter outside the front of the store, but no one had gone in to check it out because of the possibility that the thugs were still in the store.

"Any signs of the robbers?" Bullock asked the officers.

"No, sir," one answered. "It's been dead quite in there."

"Well, then, there's no harm in you two going in there check, is there?"

"Well, no, sir, but…" the officer stammered.

"What's the matter, Harvey, afraid they're still in there?" Gordon teased.

"I don't know!" Bullock snapped. "Maybe a little."

"Ma'am," Gordon went to the old woman. "You said there was a back entrance to the building?"

"Yes, through the office," the old woman said.

"Do you think it's possible the intruders went out through the back?"

The two dispatch officers fidgeted sheepishly, obviously having forgotten to cover the back entrance of the store.

"But they came in with a van and now the van in gone," the woman said.

"Did you catch the plate number?"

"No, I only saw it through the window."

"You two, take her statement on the car," Gordon said to the two officers. "Harv," he nodded towards the shop.

"At least they're probably not in there," Bullock sighed, following Gordon into the store.

Nothing looked out of place in the main shop except for a few missing trays of jewelry, but it was late and no glass had been broken, so it was likely due to the store closing shop and the old couple putting the jewelry back into the safe in the back. Strict to protocol, Gordon drew his gun and checked the room, despite not expecting there to be any threat.

"Dammit," he hissed.

"What? What is it?" Bullock said, cautiously hiding behind the wall.

Gordon stood straight, holstering his gun and rubbing his eyes under his glasses. "We have a body."

"Damn," Bullock hissed. "I'll call it in," he said, holstering his own gun and going off to speak on his radio.

Once the body situation was taken care of, Gordon gave the room a better look over. There was something off, but he hadn't put his finger on it yet. When he noticed what was wrong, he cursed his old age that it hadn't been the first thing he noticed after the body. The door of the safe was completely gone. It hadn't been removed from the safe, blown to pieces, or even welded off. It was just gone.

Inside the safe was another story. Gordon avoided going inside the safe so as not to disturb the crime scene. There wasn't a single piece of merchandise in the safe, but a strange, pasty substance was splattered on the walls and floor. The only other signs of disturbance were the empty boxes on the ground in a messy heap and the overturned cart, both also covered in the foreign goop, and six sets of footprints leading out of the safe, petering off as the slop was lost to the ground.

Gordon stood there and contemplated the odd scene in silence until Bullock returned, informing him that a full team was on its way to case the crime scene.

"Why can't there ever be a normal homicide in this god forsaken city?" Gordon sighed.

"What?" Bullock asked. "Looks like a normal…" he looked into the safe… "robbery…" and in bewilderment, tried to make sense of the odd scene… "to me…" but he couldn't think of an explanation that wasn't nonsensical. "Well, shit, man," he rubbed his week old, graying stubble. "Where's the door?"

"Gone," Gordon answered.

"And what is that?"

"I have no idea."

"Should we call in our dark consultant?"

"Not quite yet. Just once, I'd like to do my job without outsourcing."

"Security footage?"

"Security footage," Gordon agreed.

To their luck, the security system wasn't password locked, so all they had to do was rewind it to when the robbers entered the store and hit play. It looked like a standard stick up at first, with five big men in black suits with black shirts, all holding guns. They fit Black Mask's MO perfectly.

The sixth one, and the odd one out, was a boy, not dressed like his companions, and was the only one not holding a firearm. It was hard to tell from a computer screen, but the boy didn't look older than sixteen and was on the shorter end of the spectrum. And even with the low resolution of the cameras, the vivid bruising on his face was evident. He'd been given a good thrashing, which also fit Black Mask's MO.

The old woman grabbed the girl, like she said, and left out the back entrance, closing the safe as she went. Four of the thugs scattered around the shop, perusing the jewelry that was still in it's case while the fifth and the boy went to harass the shop owner. They talked, the owner was visibly nervous, and then lead them back to the safe. The fifth thug dragged the boy by the sleeve. They stopped outside the closed safe, and talked some more.

The boy yelled something, and the thug shot the owner in the foot, hit the boy in the stomach with his gun, and then threatened him further, pointing to the safe. The boy reluctantly clapped his hands together, sparks flew through the room, and the door to the safe disintegrated into the air, turning into a fine dust.

"Holy shit!" Bullock cursed.

Gordon watched the tape in stoic silence. The robbers entered the safe and stayed there for a few minutes. Unfortunately, the camera inside the safe wasn't working, so they couldn't see what was going on in the inside, but the owner was protesting desperately. There was another flash of light and then the thugs exited the safe. The first thug to exit, the one who had hit the boy and shot the owner, had the boy by the sleeve again. He paused over the owner, then shot him in the chest.

The boy's reaction was immediate. He struggled against the thug, yelling in fury, and the shooter hit him in the head. Two more thugs grabbed the boys arms, holding him back. The boy was quickly back to yelling and kicking as soon as he recovered. The shooter grabbed a device from his coat and pressed a button on it, making a bracelet on the boy's arm glow. Gordon had thought it was a watch, but it looked like some sort of military device he'd seen used to restrain some of the more powerful criminals. The boy spit on the shooter, and the shooter hit him.

The thugs left, dragging the boy with them. Their getaway car wasn't in view of any of the showroom cameras, but the headlights of the car lit up the window display as they drove off.

"Something tells me he's not working with Black Mask's goons willingly," Bullock said. "Hey, I took a statement the other day from a nurse. Said she was driving two boys to the hospital when twelve men in five vans drove up and took them at gunpoint. I tried the traffic cam, but it was off. I didn't think I'd get any leads so I forgot about it. Looks like it was Sionis."

"Wait, there's two boys?"

"Yeah, I don't remember what they looked like, but I have the sketches of them on my desk. One was about ten or twelve, the other was sixteen or so. This could be the older one."

"Good, I want clear photos and identifications on all perps and I want those and the sketches on my desk with a picture of the boy in the security footage. And I want two copies of everything."

"Think we should call…"

"I'll light the Signal."

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review. If you're on the app and downloaded the story, please try to find time to favorite, follow, and review the story. I don't get any favorites, follows, or even views for people who download the story on the app and I have no way of knowning you like the story otherwise! I would love to hear from you all!_


	11. Den of Thieves

**Chapter 11**

 **Den of Thieves**

* * *

The goons dragged Ed out of the car and back into the warehouse where Black Mask was holding him prisoner. They practically threw him to Black Mask's feet. Ed was ready to Fight, but they held him in place. They gave Black Mask their report and waited for his approval and payment for a job well done.

"You killed the old man?" Black Mask snarled at Jonny.

"Well, yeah, boss. You said to make an example out of him!"

"I said use the boy to show what happens when you miss a payment!" Black Mask grabbed Jonny by the lapels of his jacket and threw him across the room in a fit of rage. "I didn't tell you to kill him!" He stormed over and began kicking the man. Ed was taken aback by his burst of violence towards one of his own men.

"I… I'm sorry, boss!" Jonny pleaded.

"Now the police are going to get involved, you moron!"

"But it's in our territory!"

"They don't ignore homicide! Not with that goody two shoes Gordon running the show!"

By the time Black Mask let up his beating, Jonny wasn't moving anymore. Ed could hear the goons holding him down whispering to each other if their friend was dead. He didn't look like he was breathing at first, but then he whimpered and flinched.

"Get him out of here," Black Mask waved his hand, walking away from the still body. "Idiots," he snarled, staring out the window. One of the goons holding Ed went to grab his friend and drag him out of the room. "Stop," Black Mask held up a hand. The goon backed away. Black Mask pulled a gun from under his coat and walked over to the beaten and bloodied man and knelt down next to him.

"Do you see what you've done?" He snarled, grabbing the man by the chin and directing his gaze out the window. "Do you see that!" He screamed. "That's the goddamned Bat-Signal! Now the Bat is on to us!"

"I'm sorry, boss," Jonny blubbered. "I thought…"

BANG!

Without hesitating, Black Mask shot Jonny in the face, mid sentence, point blank. "Now you can clean this up," Black Mask said, standing to his feet and returning to the window, peering up at the sky. He had his hands clasped behind his back. His sudden calmness unnerved Ed almost as much as the killing.

Ed wanted to look away, but he couldn't. Instead, he watched in abject horror as the goons dragged the nearly headless body from the room by the feet, leaving a trail of blood and brains on the concrete floor. He tried not to vomit.

"Leave us," Black Mask waved away the goons holding Ed down.

They hesitated for only a millisecond before decided it was best to follow orders. Despite no longer being restrained, Ed didn't get up. He was no longer ready to Fight.

"Have you eaten?" Black Mask asked, no evidence that he'd just committed murder in voice.

"W… what?" Ed stammered, torn between staring at the bloodstain on the floor and looking at Black Mask. "I… what‽"

"It's a simple question, boy," Black Mask said. "Have you eaten?"

Ed was more than tempted to start yelling at him for whatever the hell he'd just witnessed, but that didn't seem like the best response. "Not since yesterday," Ed admitted. He hadn't been hungry, though. He was too worried about Link to think about anything else.

"You must be hungry."

"I've… lost my appetite," Ed answered quietly.

"I understand you resisted doing your job," Black Mask said with only the slightest hint of maliciousness. "Is this true?"

"S… sort of?" Ed answered. "I… I mean… I didn't think… I thought no one was going to get hurt. I still… I still did it."

"Yes, you did. I suppose this incident isn't your fault. It's a shame you had to see that," he motioned to the bloodstain on the ground. He didn't sound at all remorseful. "I suspect you'll be more obedient in the future, yes?"

"Yes," Ed said quietly, and hating himself for it. "When… when can I see my brother?" Ed asked.

"Perhaps you can see him if you behave on your next job."

"How…" Ed hated asking, but he needed to see Link. "How soon will that be?"

"Eager to get back to work, are we?" Black Mask chuckled.

Ed flinched.

"A few days, maybe a week."

"A week!" Ed snapped, getting to his feet. "That's…"

"Don't… you… dare!" Black Mask stalled towards him, brandishing the gun. "Don't you dare raise your voice to me, boy!" He backhanded Ed. "You see that!"

He grabbed Ed by the arm and pointed to a bright light in the sky; a bat symbol against a dark and foggy night. The symbol filled him with dread. If it could throw Black Mask into such a rage that he'd kill at the slightest provocation, it couldn't be good.

"If we don't lay low now, the Bat will sniff this little operation out, and if that happens…" he threw Ed to the ground. "I'll kill you and I'll kill your brother, hear me?" He kicked Ed for further emphasis. "While Batman is out there, looking for us, you can't see your brother. If he finds you first, I'll kill your brother. And if he finds your brother first, I'll kill you. My men have orders to shoot you if they see the Bat. Understand? If you're in the same place, he can get you both at once!" He kicked Ed again.

Looking up, Ed could still see the signal, but this time, it filled him with hope. If he could tip Batman off to Link's location then Link would be safe. Ed didn't care what happened to him. Besides, Alphonse and the others probably thought he was dead by now anyway. He hated to leave them hanging, but he'd give his remaining arm and leg if it meant saving even just one child from a brutal death. He couldn't bare the thought of adding another child's face to his nightmares. Not another one.

* * *

Gordon hated the higher resolution photo of the boy's face. He could tell the difference between a belt mark and a backhand, and those were both in ample supply. He couldn't tell how many times the boy had been hit, but by his count, even one bruise was one bruise too many. The sketch and the photo matched, which meant that the little brother could be in a similar condition. Just the thought of it made him sick.

Bullock ran an ID on the five men and now they had their names and last known addresses. All of them were part of Black Mask's gang. Black Mask did a lot of bad things, but at the moment this seemed like the worst one to Gordon.

Gordon sighed, grabbed the extra copies, and went up to the roof. He flipped the switch to the Bat-Signal and waited, pulling his coat tighter around him as the wind howled. He waited, looking out over the city, his city, covered in smog, crime lords, and darkness. But it had its charms, if you looked hard enough and had a good view. Sometimes Gordon wished his job gave him the luxury of not seeing Gotham through murder victims and crime statistics.

"Jim."

Gordon nearly jumped out of his skin. Batman was standing right behind him and he swore he had been paying attention. "How do you do that? Twelve years and I still haven't figured out how you do that."

"Sorry," Batman grunted.

"No you're not," Gordon sighed.

"What's happening?"

"Black Mask's gotten his hands on a meta, can disintegrate metal with his bare hands. He's just a kid, can't be older than sixteen, and we strongly suspect he's being forced against his will to use his powers to terrorize Black Mask's enemies," Gordon handed the pictures to Batman. "We've gotten IDs on the boy's handlers, but we can't identify the boy. There's already been one death, and knowing Black Mask, they'll probably be more."

"The boy?"

"One of his handlers shot the old man they were robbing, if you could call it that. Once in the leg before they broke into the safe, I assume to motivate the boy, and then again, this time in the chest, while leaving the store. The boy tried to fight back, but he's been cuffed with one of those things they use to stop powered criminals from being able to use their powers while behind bars."

"What'd they take?"

"We have no idea," Gordon said. "This was where I hoped you know something. Whatever the boy did in that safe… it's hard to describe. There was no sign of jewelry in the safe and no sign that they stole anything. The security footage showed them going into the safe and leaving the safe without bags or even bulging pockets. There was a strange, unidentifiable liquid splattered over the walls. We have pictures and a forensic sample."

"I'd like my own sample. And access to the crime scene."

"One more thing," Gordon added before Batman left, and he wanted to make sure he hadn't left so he kept an eye on him. "We have reason to believe that Black Mask has kidnapped one other boy, about ten years old. We haven't identified either boy yet. A nurse was driving them to the hospital from a homeless shelter when they were taken, the younger one had a broken arm. The sketches are from the nurse's report of the kidnapping yesterday. She didn't get a clear look at any of the kidnappers."

I'm thinking Black Mask is keeping the younger boy as a hostage to make the older one do whatever he wants…" Gordon turned around to find an empty roof. "And he's gone. I'm getting too old for this."

* * *

Link paced back and forth in his little closet, trying to come up with a new route of escape. It'd been at least a day, and the only contact he'd had with his kidnappers was the few times when they brought him water and food. He'd asked for the bathroom, but they told him to just 'piss in the corner', so now his little broom closet smelled like urine and rotting wood, which, at the very least, made him not as hungry, and they hadn't really been feeding him that much.

But now, Link had a slightly different problem. He gingerly knocked on the door. "Um, excuse me?" He asked.

"What is it now?" One of the thugs groaned.

"Um," Link hesitated. "I… um. I have to go to the bathroom."

"Thought I told you to piss in the corner?"

"It's not that kind of bathroom," Link answered.

"Go in the corner! I don't care if it's piss or shit, after that stunt, you're not allowed outta that room, hear me‽" The thug snapped, pounding on the door, making Link flinch away.

"Please! It smells gross in here! I… what if I get sick? I could… die… or something."

There was a pause.

"Kid's got a point," another thug said. "We're supposed to keep him here to keep the other one in line, remember? The other kid's behaving, so technically we gotta treat this one right."

"Eh, whatever," the other thug said. "Against the wall away from the door. If you ain't there when I open this door, you're in for a world a hurt."

Link complied, not wanting to get hurt again. To escape, he'd need to be as strong as he could. The man opened the door and nodded his head to tell Link he could some out. As soon as Link was past the door, the man grabbed his upper arm and practically dragged him to the bathroom. Link took in every part of the room outside the broom closet.

It looked like a large, abandoned warehouse, with long forgotten broken boxes in a few corners, broken in by time and neglect. They were in what looked like a break room for the past employees, with a moth eaten couch, some chairs, a table, and a light on a chain hanging from the ceiling. This also meant that the bathroom was connected to the room, so Link didn't get a good look at the rest of the warehouse except for through the interior windows near the top of one wall that looked into the storage room. From what he saw, it looked unlit and in disrepair.

The inside of the bathroom wasn't much better. There were three rusty urinals and two stalls with pealing green paint. One of the stall's door hinges had rusted off and the door was resting on the wall. The sinks were covered in rust and an unidentifiable slime. There was a leaking pipe in one corner and the murky rust red water flowed down a drain in the center of the room.

Link didn't feel any more sanitary here than he would have in his broom closet.

But the most important part of the room, and the reason why he'd refused to go in the closet, was the window above the sink in the far corner. It was the most intact part of the bathroom and opened inwards. An adult, even someone Ed's size, would not be able to fit through the gap between the window frame and the window sill when the window was open. But Link could.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to run to the window, climb onto the sink, jimmy the window open, squeeze through the small gap, and then make his escape before the thug guarding him could grab him and beat him again.

"What the hell you waitin' for?" The man grunted, shoving Link towards the only stall with a door. "Do your business and quite wasting my time."

"S-sorry!" Link went to the stall. "There… there's no paper…"

"Well, excuse me for not accommodating the delicate little princess," the thug snarled at Link. He stalked to the door and poked his head out to ask one of the other men if they had any toilet paper. Link looked at the window and considered if he had time. He was about to make a run for it, when the thug turned back around and tossed a box tissues at him. "Go nuts, brat."

"Um, thanks," Link mumbled.

As the thug dragged him back to the broom closet, Link looked back at the window. Next time, he'd see if he had an opening. This could take longer than he'd hoped, but at least there still was hope.

(1)

Deep in the caverns under Wayne Manor, Batman, or Bruce Wayne, analyzed the samples he'd taken from the crime scene. First, he looked at it through a microscope, but other than the average bacteria and microbes one might find in an everyday setting, there was nothing out of the ordinary that he could see other than gray mush. So he ran it through a chemical analyzer to see what the substance was made out of. When he got back 'NaN' instead of an answer, he decided to look even deeper, and that was when he discovered what the substance was.

"Tim," Bruce called to his young ward. "Come take a look at this."

"Are you testing me, or can I actually help?"

"Just get over here."

"Okay. What is it."

"You tell me," Bruce said, showing him the results.

"That's…" Tim took a good look at it. "That's really odd."

"What does it look like to you?"

"Well, it looks like someone deconstructed a bunch of stuff into their basic atomic elements and stuck the left over atoms to water molecules to turn it into a liquid."

"That's what I was thinking…"

"So I passed?"

"It wasn't a test. Look at the list of elements a bit closer and see if you notice anything out of the ordinary," Bruce encouraged him.

Tim quietly read the list out loud. The individual elements were listed in order of size, with their occurrence rates listed next to them. "Hydrogen, beryllium, carbon, oxygen, aluminum, silicon, titanium, vanadium, chromium, iron, silver, cadmium, gold. That's… a lot of gold, silver, and carbon… compared to the other elements."

"Silicon is commonly found in pearls, and the other elements make rubies, sapphires, and emeralds."

"And diamonds are made of carbon. So, it's jewelry, broken down into its primary elements? Is this from a case?"

Bruce played the security footage from the murder scene. Tim watched intently, and then went over the other papers Gordon had provided.

"These are Black Mask's men, right? Maybe this was a show of power?" Tim asked. "I have a meta kid, don't mess with me," he made an mock angry face and used a silly tone.

"It was definitely a show of force."

"What I don't understand is why they killed the jeweler. Black Mask doesn't usually kill the people he's milking for money. He'll maybe send someone to beat them up, sure, but not when he thinks he can still make a profit. And he literally liquidated the shop's assets. If he does that and then kills the owner, they'll be no witnesses to tell everyone about his powerful new meta."

"That's what I was wondering."

"Have you contacted Barb? Maybe she could help?"

"I have, she's watching all of Black Mask's known safe houses through security footage and keeping a tab on his activities."

"So, the waiting game?"

Bruce nodded.

"When you do get something, don't leave me behind, alright? Promise? You've only been taking me on patrol and I wanna do something cool."

Bruce didn't answer.

"You let Dick do missions when he was fourteen."

"Dick started when he was nine. He had five years experience by the time he was your age. You started six months ago."

"Yeah, but Dick didn't have training!"

"Yes, he did."

"Well, not training in crime fighting, sorta."

Bruce tried to ignore him. But it didn't work, "I'll think about it."

"Yes!" Tim fist pumped.

"But only if you clean your room."

"Aw, but I thought that was Alfred's job. He cleans your room."

"No he doesn't. Alfred cleans the mansion and the cave."

"Yeah, the Cave, that's what I meant," Tim teased. "You mean you don't sleep hanging upside down in the Batcave?"

Bruce couldn't help but chuckle.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review. If you're on the app and downloaded the story, please try to find time to favorite, follow, and review the story. I don't get any favorites, follows, or even views for people who download the story on the app and I have no way of knowning you like the story otherwise! I would love to hear from you all!_


	12. Weak Week

_Hey, what do ya know? The first instance of [this] was in this chapter. It's still there. I explain what happens so you won't get lost, but it's more of a rough draft than anything. You can think of it as a peak into my writing process! Neat, right? Usually, I would never, ever 'tell instead of show' as the saying goes._

 _And to all those writers out there; here's a tip in case you haven't heard it before and a refresher in case you haven't heard it in a while: Show don't tell. [This part of the chapter] is a good example of telling where I should have told. Of course, there are times to Tell, like when you're on a budget and special effects are expensive, or there are time restraints, but as a general rule of thumb, if you can show your audience something, don't tell them about it, show it to them. This is easier in visual media like tv or movies, but you can do it with books as well._

 _Video Games have an extra level, Do don't Show. If you can have the player do something, it's much better to let them do it. Video Games are an interactive media, after all, don't let that go to waste if you don't have to._

 _But you didn't come here to listen to me ramble on about how to write, you came here to read something I wrote. Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

 **Weak Week**

* * *

Ed wasn't very well taken care of. Every day he'd be moved from safe house to safe house, he was given week old take out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and he rarely got to sleep in a bed; he was given a moldy futon and a quilt that had bled out all of its down ages ago. He hoped they were treating Link better, but he doubted it. At the very least, he needed Link to be stationary if he were ever to divulge his location to Batman. It'd be no use to find out where they were keeping Link if he was moved every night.

There was little word from Black Mask. Ed didn't mind, it meant he wouldn't have to hurt people, but at the same time, he desperately wanted to see Link and make sure he was okay.

Ed spent most of his time pacing or doing repetitive exercises, like pushups or sit-ups. At his most stressed moments, he'd even resort to reciting the periodic table. Anything to keep his mind off of what was happening to him and his adopted little brother. The men assigned to keeping an eye on him made fun of him at first, but after their mockery failed to elicit a response, they just took to making snide remarks behind his back and snickering about them with each other.

Ed was in the middle of a round of pushups when one of the men got a phone call in the middle of their blackjack game.

"Boy, get up, we got a job," he said.

"Finally," one of the other men said, getting up and stretching his back. "Who we hitting, Leroy?"

"Gotham Merchant's Bank."

"Hey, ain't that in the Bowery? That's Penguin turf."

"Yeah, well now it's our turf. We're meeting up with two other groups tonight, after hours. The brat's getting us in. Hear that, brat?"

"I heard ya," Ed grunted, getting up. "No one gets hurt?"

"Your brother won't get hurt if you do your part," Leroy laughed.

"No one gets killed," Ed snarled.

"Oh yeah? And what're you gonna do about it?" Leroy shoved him. "I'm holdin' the remote to that pretty little accessory." Leroy grabbed Ed's wrist, twisted it, and brandished the remote in Ed's face.

Ed made a grab for it, but he wasn't fast enough. Leroy socked him in the gut. Ed fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. Leroy spit on him.

"Try that again and I'll beat you shitless," Leroy stepped down on Ed's left hand. Ed hissed in pain. Leroy pulled a hand gun from his pants and knelt down, pressing the gun to Ed's head. "You'd do best to remember that, right?"

"Hey man, we need the brat alive, remember?" One of the other men said.

"Eh, whatever," he let up and Ed immediately pushed himself to his feet.

Ed had half a mind to sock Leroy in the face, but Leroy was still holding the gun and he knew the other two had guns of their own. Without his alchemy he was no match for all three of them at once. And even if he could get them alone and pick them off one by one or regain access to his alchemy, if he tried to escape there was no telling what Black Mask would do to Link.

* * *

The getaway car pulled up to the back of the bank. It was late, past the time any respectable person would dare stay out on the streets. The nighttime fog that wafted up from the bay choked the sky, blotting out the moon and stars. Come to think of it, Ed hadn't seen the moon in weeks. All this weather was doing a number on his stumps.

"Hey, brat, what's your problem?"

"Just… a little sore…"

"Maybe you shouldn't do so many sit-ups."

"Bank's locked up tight, so your job is getting us past the walls," Leroy shoved Ed towards the back wall of the bank. Grumbling, Ed made a decently sized hole in the wall. Leroy ordered two of the men to find the guards and avoid tripping the alarm system. They had to be in and out before Batman got there, or the whole thing would go south faster than a flock of geese in winter.

Leroy grabbed Ed by the hood of his jacket and waited for his buddies to give him the all clear before bringing Ed to the safe. As soon as he got the text, he dragged Ed into the bank. Black Mask's men had rounded up all the guards and had them cowering in the main hall. Leroy and another of his buddies dragged their human safe opener into the vault to relieve it of it's door.

So far, it was just as routine as the last job, only with a more high end target and a lot less shooting. Plus, Black Mask had promised Ed would get to see Link if he behaved perfectly, so even when Leroy activated his alchemy, he didn't struggle or put up a fight. In and out, keep his head down, do as he was told, and then he'd see Link.

* * *

Oracle hated it when children were dragged into the wrong end of their job. With her origins as a child hero herself, she was hardly one to complain about the dangers of Robin's job, but when a kid, meta or otherwise, was exploited by the scum of Gotham, it made her blood boil with rage.

So, when Batman contacted her on helping him rescue two boys from Black Mask, she was all on it, twenty four seven. Of course, it wasn't any different than any other assignment, and she rarely refused to help her dear friend and former mentor.

She was, at the moment, hacked into the security feeds of every possible target Black Mask could go after with his brand new meta powered asset. There were a lot, and she had them all cycling between her twenty monitors. She watched from her chair, sipping a cup of ice coffee and eating some instant noodles, both hoping something would happen that would give her a lead, after two weeks of waiting, but also hoping that nothing bad would happen. It was a conflicting feeling.

She was about to give up, when one of her monitors had an unusual flash of light. Swearing, she canceled the cycle and replayed the security feed, focusing on the screen with the flash of light. The action was just off screen, but she'd reviewed the jewelry store heist footage and it was a possibility it was the boy's powers again. Either way, when armed men filed inside and tracked down the security guards, she knew it was a robbery.

She put down her noodles and immediately contacted Batman. "Bruce, I got a hit. Definite break in at the GMB in the Bowery, possible meta."

"I'm on it," Batman responded immediately.

"Should I contact the GCPD?"

"No. Wait until I get there. If this is the boy, the police could spook his handlers and someone could get hurt. If it's not, I'll contact you and you can call the police."

"Good luck, Bruce."

Batman grunted.

* * *

"Can I help?" Robin asked, trailing after Batman as he went to the Batmobile. "Can I? Please?"

"No," Batman grunted. "Stay here."

"But I'm ready! I want to help!" Robin pleaded. "Dick said…"

"I said no." Batman snapped. "You're not ready."

"Yes I am!"

"Tim," Batman gave Robin 'the look'. "Next time."

"Promise?"

"Fine," Batman jumped into the Batmobile and speed out of the cave, leaving a pouting Robin behind.

[Insert Bank Heist Here: 50¢ per Play. During the heist, Batman starts doing the Batman thing and knocks out a few thugs. Once Ed realizes what's going on, he manages to break off from his handlers. Since Batman is there to save Ed, he sneaks up behind him and 'confronts' him to see if he's okay. Ed explains that if Batman saves him, Black Mask will kill Link, but if Ed's 'good' Black Mask will let him see Link.

Batman gives Ed a tracking device with a button on it, because he always has everything in his utility belt. When Ed sees Link, he's supposed to press the button so that Batman knows that they're both in the same place at the same time and can rescue both of them without risking the life of the other. Ed returns to the group, explains he had to piss, and since they're all spooked shitless by Batman, they don't think about it too much.

Batman knows if he stops this heist Black Mask won't let Ed see Link, so he retreats for now to wait for Ed's signal. Ed's handlers assume their big honking assault rifles scared of Batman (they're not the sharpest thugs in the drawer) and decide not to tell Black Mask that Batman is on to them, just in case he shoots them like he shot Johnny (they do have their moments).]

* * *

Link found it hard to count how many days he'd been locked up in the closet. By his count, it'd been nearly two weeks, and they'd already started growing lax when taking him to the bathroom. He'd even managed to jimmy the window open a little bit each time without them noticing. Next time they let him go to the restroom, he'd be out the window before they could catch him.

He spent most of his time pacing back and forth and trying to ignore the pain in his arm. The cramped space of the closet was what got to him the most. He was used to traveling far and wide with no restrictions but his own limits. Now, his world consisted of one small closet and occasionally the break room and bathroom. Despite the broken window, Link felt like the air was slowly leaking out of the room, making it harder and harder for him to breath, the longer he was trapped in the closet.

Gingerly, Link knocked on his side of the door. "Um, excuse me?"

"What?" One of the goons grunted.

"I'm… um… thirsty?"

"We just gave you water!" The goon snapped. "You ain't dehydrated or anything so shut the hell up."

"Sorry," Link mumbled. "It's just…"

"I don't want to hear it!" The goon snarled. He stamped over to the door and slammed his fist on it, startling Link.

"Please, please, let me out," Link cried. "I don't like being in here!"

"Well, cry me a fucking river. You think I like spending my day babysitting you, you little brat? I could be at the bar, watching football and drinking with my palls right now, but instead, I gotta be here."

"It's hard to breath," Link whimpered. "Please, let me out."

"Yeah, like I'd fall for that," the goon snorted. "Now stop bothering me."

Despondent, Link curled up on the dirty mattress and pulled the blanket around his shoulders. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine he was in a big open field with Epona, the big blue sky over head and grass, tress, and hills as far as the eye could see. Maybe even a river or a stream nearby, babbling happily against its rocky bed. But all it did was make him homesick and long for Epona.

Link had only five minutes when the guards knocked on his door and instructed him to back up against the wall opposite of the door or he'd get beat again. Not particularly wanting to get beat, Link complied. They'd never let their guard down if he kept them on their toes, after all.

"What's going on?" Link asked as they grabbed his good arm and dragged him out of the closet.

"Congratulations," the man said. "You get to see your brother."

"Really? Is he okay?" Link wanted to ask more questions, but he couldn't think of any other than repeating 'is he okay?' countless different ways, and he didn't want to risk annoying his kidnappers.

"Keep your shorts on, brat. He ain't dead. Course, after what he pulled tonight, all bets are off for both a ya."

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review. If you're on the app and downloaded the story, please try to find time to favorite, follow, and review the story. I don't get any favorites, follows, or even views for people who download the story on the app and I have no way of knowning you like the story otherwise! I would love to hear from you all!_

 _And on another note, I don't think I've mentioned this before but I check out the profile of everyone who follows, favorites, or reviews my stories! If you've written something for a fandom I'm familiar with, I'll read it! Just as a little incentive for those of you out there to whom this applies._


	13. Catwalk of Death

**Chapter 13**

 **Catwalk of Death**

* * *

Black Mask's men dragged Ed into a dimly lit room. Instead of staying to hold him down, they handcuffed him to a support beam and left him there. Nothing else happened for a good half an hour. The table Black Mask kept his 'interrogation' instruments on was a little ways off, along with a chair covered in chains. Ed hoped beyond hope this was just a scare tactic and no one would get hurt.

Ed's far flung hopes were dashed when more of Black Mask's men came in, dragging a terrified, crying Link behind him. Link wouldn't have been crying had they not had him by his broken arm.

"Link!" Ed struggled against the cuff immediately, but he wasn't strong enough to break metal and his alchemy was still blocked. "Don't hurt him!" He tried to sound more angry than desperate, but it wasn't working. He did his best to be discrete when he pressed the button on the tracker Batman gave him.

The men ignored him, shoving Link into the chair, but not chaining him to it. "Try and escape and we'll shoot the both of ya," one of them said.

Link sniffled sadly, wiping his face with his sleeve. The thugs left them in the room unsupervised. Link could try to uncuff Ed and they could make a run for it, but Link didn't look like he would make quick time of picking a small lock, either on the handcuffs or the power dampening one.

"Link, are you alright?" Ed asked.

Link shook his head and sniffled some more.

"Did they hurt you?"

Link nodded sadly. "Is this the best I deserve?" Link whimpered, curling up into a ball and shaking quietly with tears.

"What?" Ed didn't want to admit he'd heard Link.

Before Ed could ask Link what he could possibly mean by that, Black Mask came in. He sauntered up to the table, smoking a cigar. He picked up the pliers and gave them a look over, before moving to the hammer, and then the wrench. Link continued to snivel pitifully in the chair.

"You know, boys," Black Mask said, holding up the knife and admiring the sharp edge gleam in the dim light of the naked, flickering lightbulb. "When I was your age, if I disobeyed my father, he'd give me a lecture and send me to my room with no supper."

"What's that got to do with us?" Ed snapped.

"Well, you see," Black Mask put the knife down and picked up the hammer again. "If my father had just beat me, I would have been too scared of him to burn down the house with him and my mother inside. You've got to beat children when they misbehave, or they think they can get away with… well… murder." He laughed at his own, sick joke.

He took a puff from the cigar, putting he wrench back down, and walked over to Link, who curled up tighter in his ball, cowering away from the man. "Oh, now don't be like that, boy," Black Mask said, his accent weighted by the cigar in his mouth. He reached down and grabbed Link's wrist, the one that wasn't broken, and twisted Link's arm so that the underside was facing up. He rolled up Link's sleeve.

"My boys told me you tried to escape," Black Mask said. Link struggled to pull away, but Black Mask kept his grip firm. "Are they not treating you right? Is that why you tried to get away?"

Link didn't answer.

Black Mask puffed more of the cigar blowing the smoke into Link's face, making him cough. "Oh, excuse me," Black Mask took the cigar from his mouth. "How rude of me. Let me just put this out," he took the burning end and pressed it into the delicate skin of Link's underarm.

Link cried out in pain and struggled against his tormentor with more vigor, but with just as much luck. The smell and sound of burning flesh made Ed gag and the sound of Link's pain made his stomach tighten into a knot.

"Stop it!" He cried, pulling against the cuff. "Don't hurt him!"

"Oh, my bad," Black Mask snarled, tossing the cigar to the floor and grinding the butt into the cement. He went back to the table. "Which one of you will be so noble as to volunteer to be beaten first?"

"You can't!" Ed cried. "I did everything you told me, too! You promised you wouldn't hurt us if I…"

"Oh, and you've been a perfect little angel, too," Black Mask said. "But I've still got to deal with your brother misbehaving. He tried to run away, after all. And I can't just let him slide with putting three of my men in the hospital."

"Beat me," Ed said. "Please. Don't hurt him, just beat me."

"Touching," Black Mask snarled. "Really makes me wish I wasn't an only child. Now, boy," Black Mask turned back to Link. "Would you rather I break your fingers or pull off your fingernails?"

"Don't!" Ed screamed, pulling desperately against the handcuffs. Despite not having to worry about hurting his metal hand, he still couldn't break free. "Don't hurt him!"

"Or what!" Black Mask shouted at him, grabbing the hammer and brandishing it threateningly over him. Black Mask expected Ed to cower away from him, but he didn't.

"Don't you dare hurt him," he snarled.

Black Mask grabbed Ed by the throat and pressed him against the support beam, cutting off his air. Ed struggled. He even tried hitting Black Mask with the very power dampening cuff that was blocking his alchemy. But Black Mask adjusted his grip on the hammer so that he had it just below the head, and slammed the top of it into Ed's stomach, winding him. With his air already cut off, Ed's vision starting fading out of focus and his lungs burned for air.

Right before he lost consciousness, Black Mask released him, letting him fall limp. Ed hung from the handcuffs, coughing and gasping for air, holding his throat with his free hand. Link sobbed hopelessly.

"You know, I think the fingers can wait," Black Mask said, putting the hammer down and picking up the wrench instead. "I'm sure you won't be climbing out any windows with a broken kneecap."

Black Mask swung the wrench and slammed it into Link's knee. Link screamed in agony, Ed tried to break free once more, but they were both powerless to defend themselves from their kidnapper. Link writhed so much, he fell right out of the chair and curled into the fetal position on the floor. Black Mask stood over him, still toying with the wrench.

He stepped on Link's arm, right where he'd left the burn with the cigar, and brought the wrench crunching down over Link's right hand. Link screamed. Ed wheezed in protest, but his throat was still sore and there was no way for Black Mask to hear him over Link's screaming and crying.

He continued to bring the wrench down on Link, over and over, drawing pitiful, agonizing wails from the boy. Ed writhed in the secondhand pain it caused him. Desperately, he smashed the button on the tracker, praying to anyone who'd listen that Batman got there before Link was nothing more than a stain on the cement. Ed's prayers were answered, either by divine intervention or luck, but Ed didn't care, as long as it meant Link's torment was over.

Black Mask was about to break Link's other hand, when a black object spun thorough the air and knocked the wrench from his hand.

"No!" Black Mask spun around just as Batman dropped from the rafters and punched him in the face with such force, he was sent spinning. "Batman," he snarled, wiping blood from his lip.

Ed was about to say something along the lines of 'save Link first,' when a boy around Ed's age, dressed in red and green and wearing a domino mask, landed next to him and put a finger over his mouth. Ed tried not to struggle while Batman's young friend freed him from the handcuffs.

"I have to save Link," Ed coughed, making to go to Link, who was just trying to stay awake through the pain.

"Batman's got him. We have to go. The police are outside. They'll keep you safe."

"Get this off of me," Ed demanded. "So I can stick him up to his shoulders in cement."

"That might kill him."

"Well, I won't cry at his funeral," Ed snapped. "Look, he can kill me with this. All he has to do is get the chance to get at the control thing and turn the amps to lethal."

"I didn't know they had that setting?"

"Different setting are lethal to different people, but the normal setting doesn't knock out a lot of the people these were made for. What's illegal is setting it too high, but he doesn't give a shit about that."

"Alright, man. Just promise not to disintegrate him or anything."

"Even if I could do that without risking a rebound, I wouldn't. It wouldn't hurt enough," Ed snarled.

Robin was about to pick the lock on the cuff, when a group of Black Mask's men ran in after hearing the commotion. Swearing, both boys jumped to their feet to face them. They ended up surrounded, back to back, fighting seven guys, all armed with something. Robin pulled a collapsing quarterstaff from his belt and prepared to kick bad guy butt.

"Hey, you got two of those?" Ed asked.

"Sorry," Robin said.

"Eh, whatever. I've wanted to punch these guys for weeks."

Ed was pissed enough that as soon as the first blow came for him, he saw red. If there had only been one guy, he might have beaten them to death without realizing it. But before he could go to town on one guy, another tried to take him. He focused on incapacitating as many of them as possible so that he could slip past Batman and Black Mask and save Link before he was left with long term damage.

Before he could even knock out the three that Robin wasn't actively trying to deal with, Black Mask managed to grab his remote. It wasn't set on lethal by default, so when he pressed the 'subdue' button, it only sent Ed to the floor, screaming in agony.

"Back off, or he dies," Black Mask snarled, releasing the button. Even with the volts gone, Ed was too winded to move. Black Mask turned up the amps and held his thumb threateningly over the 'subdue' button.

Ed had had enough. He grabbed his thumb in his metal hand and pressed as hard as he could. He knew he could permanently cripple his one remaining hand, but that was better than dying here. He pushed the bone right out of its socket, biting his cheek to stop himself from screaming and drawing Black Mask's attention to him. As soon as his thumb was out of the way, he slipped the bracket off and chucked it at Black Mask, hitting him square in the forehead, while shouting, "Fuck you!"

Ed shoved his thumb back into place, wincing in pain, and clapped his hands together, warping and twisting the cement unnaturally, until it grew hands that clamped down on Black Mask's men's feet and ankles.

Unfortunately, he had forgotten that pain messed up his judgement and it also caused a mini earthquake that nearly knocked everyone off their feet, including Batman and Robin. Ed and Link, who were already on the floor, were not effected. By the time everyone who could regain their footing had, Black Mask and Link were gone.

Swearing, Ed shoved himself to his feet and ran into the next room. Batman and Robin were right behind him. When they got there, they found Black Mask holding Link in a hostage hold, pressing his pistol into Link's temple. Link was barely conscious, and hung limp in Black Mask's arms. They were on a catwalk, nearly twenty feet on the air. The whole thing was covered in rust.

"Let him go!" Ed cried.

"Keep your hands up and apart," Black Mask snarled. "That goes for all of you, or I'll shoot the kid!"

Begrudgingly, all three of them complied.

"Now, nice and easy," Black Mask said. "Boy," he still hadn't leaned Ed's name, "I want you to trap the Batman and his little friend. It's them or your brother."

"Screw you!" Ed shouted.

Link began to stir. He didn't know where he was or where Ed was. But he could hear Ed, and he could tell he was scared. He squirmed in Black Mask's hold, momentarily distracting Black Mask, who had to readjust his grip so as not to drop Link, since Link wasn't strong enough to carry his own weight with his broken knee.

Batman took the opportunity to grapple into the darkness, which spooked Black Mask, who backed down the catwalk, holding the gun out, looking for Batman. "Show yourself, Bats!" He shouted.

"Let him go!" Ed cried.

"Shut up!" Black Mask turned to Ed and brandished his gun in Ed's general direction. Before he could continue threatening, however, his pant leg got snagged on a rusted part of the catwalk, tripping him. Link squirmed free of the hostage hold while Black Mask struggled to regain his footing, but Link couldn't support weight on his broken knee, and fell against the catwalk railing.

The catwalk was old and the railing rusted. It couldn't support Link's weight, and it gave out from under him. The next second felt like dragged on over hours. Ed screamed, Link's heart skip into his throat, Batman rushed to catch Link, but Black Mask fired his gun at him, forcing Batman back.

Link landed on the back of his head with a crack. He wasn't moving.

Ed ran to him, terrified for the worst. He couldn't tell if Link was breathing or not. He was too afraid to even hold the little boy in his arms. If Link was alive and his neck was broken, moving him could kill him. But he desperately want to shake Link to see if he'd wake up or move or anything. Anything but this.

As the blood pooled under Link's head, memories flashed through Ed's mind. The disfigured body of the thing he'd made when trying to resurrect his mother and Alphonse disintegrating before his eyes. He didn't know he was crying. He didn't care. He failed.

"Should we…" Robin was still shaking. "Should we do something?"

"We've done everything we could. We'll let the police take it from here," Batman grunted. "Let's go."

So they left Ed crying over Link and Black Mask hanging upside down from the catwalk. By the time Gordon and his men got in, Batman and Robin were gone. The only person who'd been severely injured was the little boy. Gordon felt his stomach churn. When he saw Black Mask, swinging unconscious from the catwalk above, he had to fight the urge to shoot him like some sick, twisted game of piñata.

"We need an ambulance," Gordon said into his com, checking for a pulse. When he found one, he visibly relaxed. "Civilian down." Gordon knelt next to the older boy and gently put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not leaving him," Ed whispered. "I can't leave him."

"I know," Gordon said. He motioned to his officers to clean up after Batman and take the men in the other room into questioning or jail depending on how much they already had on them. "I'll drive you to the hospital when the ambulance gets here, alright?"

The older boy just nodded, not taking his eyes off his brother for a second. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review. If you're on the app and downloaded the story, please try to find time to favorite, follow, and review the story. I don't get any favorites, follows, or even views for people who download the story on the app and I have no way of knowning you like the story otherwise! I would love to hear from you all!_

 _And on another note, I don't think I've mentioned this before but I check out the profile of everyone who follows, favorites, or reviews my stories! If you've written something for a fandom I'm familiar with, I'll read it! Just as a little incentive for those of you out there to whom this applies._


	14. Sarcastic Title Part 1

_Sarcastic Title used to be a filler, but I ended up liking it so much I gave the name to two chapters_

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

 **Sarcastic Title; Part 1**

* * *

As Gordon escorted the ambulance to the hospital, he didn't speak. He didn't know what to say. This kid had watched his little brother get beaten half to death with a wrench, fall fifteen feet onto a cement floor, then get carted off in an ambulance. Ed wasn't taking his eyes off the ambulance. Gordon wanted to check to see if the kid was blinking, but he had to stay focused on the road and keep an eye out for retaliation from Sionis's men.

"Will he be okay?" Ed asked. Gordon could barely hear him over the wailing sirens. "He'll be okay, right?"

"I…" Gordon considered sugar coating it, but Ed didn't look like the kind of kid who'd take being talked down to. "I don't know. I hope so. He's alive."

"I can't lose him, too," Ed whimpered.

Gordon was at a loss for words.

They reached the hospital with no interference from Sionis's men, and Gordon had a feeling they had the Batman to thank for that. When he saw them cart Link out of the ambulance and into the hospital, his winced. Link was paler than he'd been when he'd first been placed on the stretcher. The nasty bruising on his face and arms stood out like an ink stain on paper. Even Ed paled when he saw how precarious Link looked.

"We should get you in through the front door."

"I need to know he'll make it," Ed said, trying to follow the paramedics.

"You might need stitches."

Ed reluctantly let Gordon take him through the front entrance. There were a lot of people in the waiting room. A lot of them were covered in bruises or were holding an arm or supporting a buddy who could barely stand. A lot of them glared at Gordon when he walked in with Ed. Ed noticed Gordon had a hand on his gun and did his best to keep himself between Ed and the men. Ed had a suspicion he knew who was keeping the hospital in business and the patients out of business.

"Fill out these forms," the woman behind the counter said, handing Gordon a clipboard. She didn't even look at him. "A doctor will be with you shortly."

Gordon didn't leave the front desk, but he did position himself so that he was facing the room but could still rest the clipboard on the desk. He was still keeping himself between Ed and the angry looking men.

"I don't know your name."

"Is it necessary?" Ed snapped. "All they're doing is patching me up."

"It's for the record."

"I don't have to tell you anything."

"If you don't tell me, I'll write down Asshat McGee."

"Edward Elric," Ed grumbled.

Gordon silently commended himself for learning something about teenagers after raising his own. "Age?"

"I'm…" Ed paused, thinking hard. "I…"

"Did Sionis hit you in the head? If you're suffering from a concussion, please tell me. I'm trying to help you."

"No, no," Ed brushed him off. "I just don't remember if I'm fifteen or sixteen. I… I don't know if my birthday's passed by yet. The last few years have been… eventful. That's all. It's been hard to keep track of time."

"Alright, fifteen, then," Gordon said. He marked down head injury just to be careful. "Allergies?"

"Lactose intolerance," Ed said after a moment of consideration. "Yeah. Definitely intolerant to lactose."

"Are you actually allergic or do you just hate milk?"

"Sure," Ed shrugged.

Gordon wrote that down, again erring on the side of caution. "Any physical or mental disabilities."

"That's…" Ed paused, rubbing his shoulder. "Alright, that is medical, I guess. Two prostheses, right arm at the shoulder and left let two and a half inches above the knee."

"Really?" Gordon asked, shocked. "They look real."

"Sure, when they're covered. They're made out of metal. Figure they'll see it anyway, might as well be prepared."

Gordon wrote that down and took a good look at Ed's limbs, surprised he couldn't tell. And he was supposed to be a detective.

"How tall are you?"

"Five foot seven," Ed answered defensively.

"Not including your shoes or your hair."

"What's it to ya?"

"They'll measure you anyway."

"Five foot three," Ed grumbled.

"Weight?"

"I dunno, a lot," Ed shrugged. "The prostheses are pretty heavy. About ninety six without the protheses and a hundred and thirty or so with them."

"That is… really heavy."

"It's only about ten pounds more than my actual limbs," Ed shrugged. "Lost eighteen on the leg and about six on the arm, so… no big deal. Shouldn't a picked a fight with a wood chipper." Ed chuckled. "Link likes that one." He frowned. "That, and the garbage disposal."

"How'd you actually lose them?"

"Twelve bears on one unicycle," Ed answered, straight faced. "I didn't see 'em coming. One of them had a machete."

"Real kidder," Gordon huffed. "Any hereditary health issues? Any family members die of heart disease, or cancer, or something?"

"That's none of your business," Ed snarled, growing defensive.

Gordon knew it wouldn't be helpful, but he wrote down 'probably' anyway.

"Take it you don't have any legal guardians?"

"I can take care of myself and my little brother just fine."

"Sure, as long as the mafia doesn't get in the way," Gordon snapped.

"It's not my fault!" Ed almost shouted. "It… it's not…"

"I know," Gordon said. He signed his own name where it said 'parent/guardian signature'. He knew he should have waited for a social worker to be assigned to Ed's case, but it was late and he was tired and Ed was covered in enough blood, dried or otherwise, he could bleeding out and was just too stubborn to admit it.

"When do I know if Link's okay?"

"Just a minute," Gordon said, turning in Ed's papers. "There was a boy who came in a few minutes ago, probably no name, head injuries and multiple broken bones. I'm in charge of the case."

"Fill out these forms," the nurse said. "A doctor will be with you shortly."

"No, I said he's in critical condition and I need to see his papers."

"Fill out the forms."

"Alright, alright, I'll fill out the forms." Gordon grumbled, grabbing the second clipboard and going back to Ed. "And I thought I had a lot of paper work back at the precinct."

"Well?" Ed asked.

"More forms," Gordon waved the clipboard. "Same last name?"

"He… he doesn't have a last name," Ed said. "But, uh… you can just write mine."

"Alright. Age?"

"Nine to twelve."

"Neither of you know how old you are?"

"He's never had a calendar and he doesn't have any family to tell him when his birthday is."

Gordon wrote down ten. "Allergies?"

"Tree nuts. Also, he doesn't like orange juice or potatoes."

Gordon wrote down tree nuts. "Disabilities?"

"Not that I know of."

"Height?"

"Four feet exactly."

"Weight?"

"Around forty, if I had to guess. Never weighed him, just carried him a few times, but I'm pretty good at that kind of thing."

"Elric?" A man opened the door to the rest of the clinic and looked out over the group of patients. He didn't seem to be looking forward to his next patient, but when he saw a kid and the Commissioner answer his call, he relaxed a little.

Ed was only behaving because he figured he'd have a better chance of getting back to Link if he was nice to the doctors. He followed the doctor to an examination room while Gordon stayed in the waiting room and worked on sorting out Link's precarious predicament. Gordon hoped Ed would behave himself.

He was halfway through struggling with Link's form when a nurse came out and beckoned him to follow her through to the emergency room. She led him to where Link lay, hooked up to machines, deathly still, and pale as a ghost. A surgeon was standing at the foot of Link's bed, going through the scant files that had been pulled together not a minute before.

"Uh, is that?" The surgeon saw Gordon and painted to the clipboard he still had in his hands.

"Link's? Yes," Gordon handed him the slightly more updated version of all the information they had on the boy.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Commissioner Gordon. I'm Dr. Grant, I'll be operating on Link."

"What have you done so far?" Gordon asked, looking at Link.

"Nothing, yet," Dr. Grant said. "We're prepping for a full body MRI, which should be done shortly. We'll know more then."

"What do you know now?"

"He's suffered a lot of traumatic injuries all over his body and will definitely need surgery. We're planning on getting everything in one go. Going under the knife is risky for someone his age and in his condition."

"Has he woken up yet?"

"No, still unresponsive. We suspect he's suffered from severe brain trauma. But like I've said, we won't know more until after the MRI. Since his situation is so urgent, that should be done within the next half an hour. I'll be in prep when we get the results so I'll be sure to have one of our best nurses keep you updated."

"Thank you," Gordon sighed. He watched them wheel Link deeper into the hospital and let the nurse guide him to another, smaller waiting room with no one else in it. "Forty pounds," he whispered to himself, sitting in one of the chairs and resting his forehead in his hands. Link looked smaller than forty pounds.

(1)

Half an hour later, another nurse came in with Ed close behind her. The worst of the bruises and cuts on his face left by Black Mask were covered under bandages and wraps, and he was hugging his arms to his chest.

"Any news about the boy?" Gordon asked.

"He's headed into surgery now."

"The MRI results?"

"He has a epidermal hematoma on his optic lobe, caused by impacting with the ground when he fell, five broken ribs, his lungs are punctured in two different places, he has three tears in his large intestine, breaks on both of his arms, twelve broken bones in his right hand, and his right kneecap has been broken into multiple pieces."

"Christ," Gordon hissed.

The color drained from Ed's face

"He'll need surgery for the epidermal hematoma, punctured lungs, intestines, and broken knee. He's in prep now and he'll be on the table in ten minutes."

"So he'll get better, right?" Ed asked. "That means he'll get better?"

"No, I'm sorry. He's still in a coma. It's unclear if he'll ever wake up. Because of the location of the epidermal hematoma, if he does wake up, he'll most likely have a severe vision impairment."

"Oh," Ed whimpered. He felt like he'd been punched in the gut.

"He's also unusually short for his age and is very underweight for his size. He's young, so he may recover, but he's not as healthy as he could be."

"There's nothing wrong with being short," Ed snapped.

"No, not inherently, and not at his age, but like I said, he's very underweight and it's likely his height is a result of being malnourished for most of his life."

"What are his chances?" Gordon asked.

"It's very likely he won't survive the night, and if he does, he probably won't wake up. If he does wake up he will most likely have a moderate to severe disability relating to his head injuries."

"What are the odds of coming out of this okay?" Ed asked, his voice shaky.

"If I had to give it a number, he has about a thirty percent chance of making it through the surgery and an eight percent chance of making it through the week if he does survive the night," the nurse said.

"That's… that's better than zero," Ed said, fighting to remain stubbornly optimistic. "He… he's tough. He'll pull through. He'll be okay," Ed clenched his fists and closed his eyes, fighting back tears. "He'll be okay."

"How long will the surgery take?"

"There hasn't been a case like this before, it's hard to tell. We've planned on it taking longer than twelve hours, but by how much, I can't say."

"Thank you anyway," Gordon said to the nurse.

"I'll tell you if anything changes," the nurse said before leaving.

As soon as the door swung shut behind her, they both resigned themselves to waiting in agony for more news. Ed didn't make it ten minutes before he stood up started pacing like a trapped animal.

"Well, she didn't sugar coat anything," Ed said after a few laps around the room.

"No, she did not," Gordon sighed.

"When are you leaving?"

"Do you want me to?"

Ed stopped pacing and looked at him, dumbfounded. "Don't you have a job?"

"I trust the night watch," Gordon said. "And I don't want to leave you alone."

"What? Afraid I'll hurt someone or some bullshit?"

"No one should be alone at a time like this."

Ed didn't have a response to that, so he continued pacing.

Gordon remembered waiting in this very room for his daughter to come out of surgery. No one had been with him then, and he'd suffered alone, waiting to know if he'd have to burry his own daughter or not. He wouldn't wish that torture on anyone, let alone a boy who'd just been kidnapped and horribly beaten. Ed didn't deserve to be left alone, waiting for his little brother to survive the night.

After a few minutes, a nurse rushed in the room, two large duffle bags in her arms. When she saw Ed, she looked extremely relieved. Ed reacted like he knew her. She said something about being horribly sorry, handed the duffles to Ed, and then had to leave, saying she was on the clock and couldn't stay. Only after she left did Gordon recognize her as the witness who reported Ed and Link's kidnapping nearly two weeks ago. She must have kept their things after they were taken.

They waited in silence after that, but Gordon felt it was enough just to let Ed know he wasn't alone. But two hours in, and Gordon was starting to feel the effects of being awake and on the clock for over twenty hours.

"I'm going to get some coffee," Gordon announced, getting to his feet and stretching. "Want anything?"

"Hm?" Ed looked up from where he was sitting. He shook his head.

"Alright, I'll only be gone for a minute or two."

"Yeah, whatever," Ed shrugged him off, but Gordon convinced himself that his presence eased Ed somewhat.

Gordon followed the signs to the cafeteria and was relieved to find that they had a hot coffee vending machine in one corner. He wasn't sure if he could talk to someone this late at night, even if it meant getting a much needed caffeine fix. He struggled to keep his eyes open while the machine spit oily, black liquid into a foam cup. It looked like swill, and the first sip accompanied it with a bitterness Gordon didn't know coffee was capable of, but he'd survived enough all nighters on worse tasting caffeinated liquids and was satisfied with his drink. He was no stranger to day old coffee.

He was about to go back when his phone rang.

"This is Gordon," he answered.

"Jim, where the hell are you?" Bullock said. "You dropped the kid off at the hospital two hours ago."

"We weren't able to track down any family members because they don't have any," Gordon answered.

"What do you mean, they don't have any family? I've been keeping Vale out of your hair for two hours, man. Two hours."

"I've been busy."

"Oh, you've been busy? You've been busy! Do you know how many reporters are after you right now. It's like a lion made a kill and left it there and now all the hyenas are fighting over the carcass in here!"

"Watching national geographic documentaries again, are we?"

"Don't patronize me, Jim. Can't you just let, I dunno, Bruce Wayne handle it. They're orphans, right? That's his thing, He loves adopting those little orphans, how many is he at now, three, four? He practically collects them!"

"The little one's in surgery, critical condition. It doesn't look like he's going to make it."

"Oh," was all Bullock could say.

"He's ten years old, Harv. Ten. And if he does survive, he'll likely be blind."

"Should I put a guard on Sionis? The kid dies and the older one could be out for blood."

"The kid dies and I'll be out for blood."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Bullock tried to laugh, but even Gordon could hear how shaken he was on the other end. There was a lot of death in their line of work, but when a little kid got hurt, that was when it hit them the hardest. "Look, I'll cover for you here. Don't leave them alone. Sionis might retaliate."

"He's not still at large, is he?"

"No, but he's not back in Blackgate yet, either, so it's still in the air. I'll keep you posted. I'll hold the fort here. You just keep an eye out."

"Will do," Gordon sighed, hanging up. He hurried back to the waiting room.

He didn't think he'd been gone more than five minutes, tops, but when he returned to the waiting room it looked like a tornado had hit. Most of the chairs were toppled over, there were dents in the walls where chairs, side tables, and a lamp or two had impacted. There was even a fist sized hole in one wall. And Ed sat in the middle of it, hunched over, his hands on his knees, fighting back tears. Gordon was just happy Ed was still there and still in one piece.

Gordon didn't say anything. Instead, he picked up a toppled chair from the ground and sat down next to Ed, taking a sip of his coffee and grimacing at the unusually bitter taste. "I hope you're not expecting the janitor to clean up this mess."

"I can fix the walls," Ed sniffled, wiping his face to hide the tears that had escaped his stony façade.

"This isn't your fault."

"Yes it is," Ed hissed, even more bitter than the swill trying to pass as coffee. "I was cocky and I got us into more trouble than either of us could handle. And now Link's going to die because of it."

"You're not the one who hurt him, don't act like you are," Gordon said, more firm this time.

"I'm the one who got him hurt!" Ed shouted back, shooting to his feet and clenching his fists.

"Alright, if you're so convinced, what evidence do you have?"

"Black Mask knew about my alchemy because I used it on a knife when some of his goons mugged us in the street. If I hadn't've shown off, he never would have gone after us in the first place."

"And if Sionis wasn't the worst scum of the Earth, he never would have raised a hand to you or your brother."

"It was a wrench," Ed whispered. "He cuffed me to a post and made me watch as he beat him. If Batman hadn't've shown up, he probably would have started pulling finger nails."

"He's a despicable man who deserves to rot in the deepest pits of hell. You aren't responsible for Sionis's actions."

"No, but I gave him a reason."

"You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"It's not like it could have happened to anyone," Ed said. He pulled up another chair and sat backwards, resting his chin on the back and letting his arms hang limp over the top. "It happened to him because of me and there's nothing you can say that will make that different."

"And there's nothing you can say that will make this your fault."

"It should be me in there, not him. He's only hurt because Black Mask wanted to break me." He hissed the word like it was venom on his tongue. "It should have been me."

"He should have been in Blackgate," Gordon sighed. "All it took was a few guards in his pocket and he's back on the streets. We could do this all night. I should have prioritized recapturing the escaped cons after the this month's prison break, the guards shouldn't have traded good conscience with a heavy wallet, you shouldn't have shown off, and so on and so forth.

There's a little bit of blame to go around for everyone and we could spend years and years listing every little decision that led up to this moment until we get all the way back to first fish that decided to crawl out of the ocean, but that won't change that it's happened and won't help him get through this."

Ed didn't have anything to say to that. He certainly didn't want to admit that Gordon was right, since that would mean admitting he was wrong, but he knew he'd lost that argument. And, honestly, he wasn't too upset about it. So instead, he said, "Your coffee smells like crap."

Gordon laughed. "It tastes like it, too."

"I should probably clean this up," Ed said, getting up.

Ed worked slowly, if only to have something to do to avoid falling down the rabbit hole of blame again. Gordon continued to keep him company, but Ed wouldn't admit he appreciated it. Gordon hadn't seen Ed's alchemy in an everyday setting yet. It was actually impressive when it wasn't being used for destruction.

A hole in the wall that would have taken at least an hour of work to fill and left a visible mark behind was gone without a trace in seconds. Knowing the budget of the simpler things like patchwork in a government funded building, it was entirely likely that the hospital would have just nailed some plywood to the wall or left the hole as is. Lord knew, the GCPD HQ could have used a touching up from Ed's handiwork.

"You'd make a killing as a window repairman," Gordon said after an hour of silence.

"Hm?" Ed asked, looking up from where he was stacking magazines that had fallen after he'd flipped the table they'd been left on. "Oh. Yeah, s'pose. More of a biochemist, though."

"Ever think about a career in forensics?"

"Yeah, actually," Ed said. "Or medicine or something. I just… I just wanted to help people; do the right thing, but…" Ed's thought drifted into silence. "He'll make it." He whispered to himself. "He has to." He wondered if this was how Al felt when he found Ed half dead on the floor.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review. If you're on the app and downloaded the story, please try to find time to favorite, follow, and review the story. I don't get any favorites, follows, or even views for people who download the story on the app and I have no way of knowning you like the story otherwise! I would love to hear from you all!_

 _And on another note, I don't think I've mentioned this before but I check out the profile of everyone who follows, favorites, or reviews my stories! If you've written something for a fandom I'm familiar with, I'll read it! Just as a little incentive for those of you out there to whom this applies._


	15. Sarcastic Title Part 2

**Chapter 15**

 **Sarcastic Title; Part 2**

* * *

Hour after hour went by with no news. The sun rose, and then set, and then rose again, and still no news. They had to take it as nothing big had happened in the last twenty six hours, either good or bad. Ed wanted to ask how much longer, but he couldn't bear to receive a bad answer, so instead he alternated between pacing and sitting with his head in his hands. Sleep was off the table.

Finally, after what felt like years, the nurse returned. "He's alive," the nurse said. "But barely. We've moved him to a private room in the children's ward. Are either if you relatives?"

"He doesn't…" Ed started.

"Yes," Gordon interrupted. "They're brothers. And I'm with him."

"Are you a parent or legal guardian?"

"No, but they don't have any legal guardians right now, so I'm the next best thing."

"Alright, I'll take you to him and I'll contact the state to send a social worker."

Ed started to protest, but Gordon interrupted him again. "Thank you." When Ed gave him a pissed off look, he whispered, "I'll explain later."

Ed took it as an 'I know best,' and glared at him, but he didn't protest. Gordon did know much better than he did. But only in this case.

They followed the nurse to Link's room. The lights were dim and the curtains drawn, and it was hard to see anything, especially Link himself. It was hard to look at Link. His head was heavily bandaged, his right leg was in a cast, his entire right arm was in a cast, and his left arm was in a much smaller cast. He was hooked up to a heart monitor, a respirator, a feeding tube, and an IV drip of some sort of painkiller, but the drip wasn't on.

"Is he stable?" Ed asked quietly.

"For now. He's still on twenty four hour watch. Mr…" she looked to Gordon.

"Commissioner," he corrected.

"Commissioner Gordon," she smiled, recognizing him. "Now I know why you look so familiar. Can I talk to you outside for a moment?"

"Of course," Gordon said, following her just outside the room, leaving the door ajar behind him.

"I know you're not their legal guardian, but I'll let you stay for tonight. I need to ask you to try and stay within visiting hours in the future. Since you're not a guardian, visiting hours are from noon to seven pm weekdays and eight pm on the weekends."

"Of course," Gordon nodded.

"The brother is under age?"

"He is."

"He'll have to stick to those as well, unless a special arrangement can be made."

"I would strongly advise against trying to separate them."

"Which is why I'd like it if you told him. But later. The social worker can sign a paper that will let the brother stay in place of a guardian. If they get here before nine tomorrow, he can stay. If not, I suggest you find some place for him to stay outside of visiting hours."

"I'll tell him," Gordon sighed. He was not looking forward to trying to take Ed away from his little brother's bedside in the morning.

When Gordon went back into the room, Ed was sitting next to the bed in the reclining chair, his face buried in his hands, and shaking quietly. If Gordon didn't know any better, he'd think Ed was crying, but the boy was much too stubborn to risk Gordon finding tears on his face. There wasn't a second chair in the room maneuverable enough to move next to Ed, so Gordon stood at the end of the bed like a silent guardian.

"I heard you talking to the nurse," Ed said, trying not to sniffle too loudly. "It'll take the entirety of SWAT to get me out of this room."

"I figured," Gordon said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"That, or Batman," Ed joked.

"Well, that's a relief. I happen to have his number on my phone."

"You do?"

"Yup."

"So, you two are friends?"

"Yup."

"He wouldn't happen to know anyone who has healing powers, would he?"

"He does, but she's been missing for the past three years. From what little I got, she wasn't supposed to be gone for more than an hour, but she hasn't been heard from since. Under the circumstances, Link's been given the best chance available. All we can do now is hope he'll push through."

Looking at Link laying on the bed, hooked up to all manner of medical gadgets and gizmos, he certainly didn't look like he had the best odds. The pale blue of the sheets reflected off of his face in the dim light, making his pallor look even worse than it was. Gordon had seen corpses that looked more alive than this little boy. But at least he was alive, which was better than the cadavers could say.

Gordon stood vigil while Ed willed with all his might that Link would get better, until Ed slowly fell asleep. He fought it at first, but it was a downhill battle and with each minute, his eyes grew heavier and his desire to stay awake grew weaker. Before long, he was asleep, leaning on Link's bed, with his face in his arms, one hand wrapped gently around Link's.

Once Gordon was certain Ed was asleep, he draped his coat over the sleeping boy's shoulders. He readjusted Link's blankets and gently brushed some of his hair from his face. He drew the blinds and took his leave to wait outside the room for the social worker to arrive. There was a bench just outside the room, which he sat on. He should have been heading to his favorite diner to grab breakfast and another cup of coffee before going in to work, but Bullock's warning was still in the back of his mind.

He was worried that if he left the boys alone, some thug would sneak in and snatch them away, or worse. And he was loath to say that he didn't trust enough of the officers under his command to make a full twenty-four hour guard for them. He would never be able to forgive himself if he left them unguarded while they slept only for something terrible to happen.

"Commissioner?" The nurse snapped Gordon out of his deep thoughts. "The social worker is here."

"Hmm? Oh," he stood up, straightening his tie he absentmindedly rubbing the day old stubble growing on his strong, square chin.

The social worker was a small, thin woman with thin lips, beady eyes, and a long chin. She held her hand out to him in such a manner that he wasn't sure if she wanted him to shake it or kiss it. The expression on her face gave the impression that she'd just bitten into a lemon but had been expecting an orange. Gordon was tempted to ask her if she ever considered a career in sour candy advertisements, but decided against it.

"Good morning, Commissioner Gordon," the woman said, shaking his hand. Despite her small, boney hands, she had a vice grip. "I am Ms. Phetchet."

"Jim Gordon," he introduced himself.

"Pleasure. I'm here about the Elric case."

"They're in there," Gordon nodded to the room behind him. "But they're sleeping. Well, Edward's sleeping. Link's in a coma."

"Hm, yes," Ms. Phetchet said, crinkling her nose. "It's very tragic."

"He's not dead," Gordon frowned.

"No, no, of course not. But I can't home a comatose child."

"Speaking of homing, what's going to happen to Edward?"

"Since he's much too old to ever hope of being adopted, and he's much too… special… to be put in the foster system, I'm sending him to a year round military school upstate that specializes in troubled boys."

"He's not troubled, he's a victim."

"I'm sure, but you know how it is. It's a very strict school, I'm sure he'll learn to be a model citizen."

"He doesn't take well to authority figures. I strongly advise against a military school."

"Hm!" Ms. Phetchet turned her nose at him. She was not going to take his advise.

"What about Link?"

"There's a family in Metropolis that is ready to foster him… if he ever wakes up. In the meantime, I'm sure the hospital will take good care of him."

"You're separating them?" Gordon growled. He did his best to maintain his composure, but it was difficult. This woman rubbed him the wrong way.

"Naturally. They are a danger to each other. They're better off without one another."

"Without…" Gordon almost shouted at her. "Edward has just been physically and physiologically tortured, made to feel powerless, and you think that a military school where he'll be ordered around by threatening authority figures is a good idea? And on top of that, his little brother his all he has left and you want to separate them! That would crush him. He's been traumatized enough, the last thing he needs is to have everything taken from him."

"Commissioner Gordon, are you a child psychologist?"

"Well, no, but…"

"Then what would you know about Edward's mental state? I have been doing this for forty years, Commissioner Gordon. I know what's best for the boys."

"Qualifications aside, do you know what's best for them if you haven't even met them yet?"

"Intuition, Commissioner. Intuition."

"Yeah, you know what we call intuition in the force? Bullshit. You need conclusive facts before you can make a final decision."

"Fine, if you're so adamant about it, I'll talk to Edward myself," she moved to open the door to Link's room but Gordon moved to block her. "Out of my way, Commissioner."

"Edward's asleep."

"Then I'll wake him."

"He's been up for over thirty hours and God knows how much sleep he got while being held hostage by a violent mob boss. He needs rest."

"Well, then what do you propose I do, then?"

"How about you let him stay by his brother's side until he comes out of the coma?"

"And why would I do that?"

"Why wouldn't you? That would at least reduce the trauma of having his only family ripped from him while he's still recovering from their kidnapping. And if Link wakes up in a strange place, surrounded by strange people, and his brother isn't here to comfort him, he could be even more scared than he already is. You take Edward away, and you're subjecting Link to waking up alone and frightened. He could hurt himself."

"If he wakes up. If. I've read his file. He's more likely to die than ever open his eyes again. And even if he does, he will never make a full recovery. It's a miracle I managed to find a foster home for him at all in his condition, but the Kents in Metropolis are a very understanding couple."

"Then let Edward stay. He deserves to be with his brother."

"I've already enrolled him in the military school. If he's tardy…"

"Two weeks," Gordon said. "You sign a paper that lets Edward take the place of a legal guardian and you can have him once his brother's awake. And if Link doesn't wake up, then in two weeks you can ship him off to that military school of yours."

"Are you threatening me, Mr. Gordon?"

"He's involved in multiple robberies and a witness for at least one homicide. I can keep him in Gotham for questioning indefinitely if I misplace the right files. You seem very eager to get him to that military school. Sign the papers and I'll be sure his statement is taken in a timely fashion."

"I'd heard the GCPD was corrupt, but I didn't think it was to the core."

"That's a stretch and you know it. I believe they have the papers at the counter," he gestures to the desk at the end of the hall."

"You haven't gotten rid of me, Mr. Gordon," Ms. Phetchet snarled. "I'll be back for him in due time."

"I'm sure you will, but in the meantime," he shooed her towards the counter. "Those papers aren't going to sign themselves."

With one last harrumph, she stalked down the hallway, her heels clicking against the tile angrily. Gordon sat back down on the bench and let out a deep sigh. If he wasn't already used to pulling all nighters, he was certain he wouldn't have made it this long. He was due for another cup of coffee.

Gordon would have continued his vigil over Ed and Link after that, but duty was calling and he couldn't avoid Bullock forever. He answered his phone while watching Ms. Phetchet sign the forms that let Ed stay by Link's side twenty-four/seven.

"Harvey," Gordon said.

"James," Bullock said back.

"I didn't think you'd be awake this early in the morning."

"And I didn't think you'd still be at the hospital. I know those boys have been through hell, but do you really have to stick by their side like a fly on glue?"

"Speaking of the boys, who do you know in the force that's clean and never had a run in with Black Mask? I want to set up a guard to make sure Black Mask doesn't try to retaliate."

"He's behind bars, Jim. He can't hurt them. Hell, if news gets out that he nearly murdered a little kid, he could be dead within the week. There's nothing to worry about."

"He has associates who aren't behind bars and last I checked, Blackgate doesn't have a no visitors policy, so he can still run his operation from there."

"Touché, touché," Bullock said. "I'll pull together a list, but I expect you back in your office when the first sucker gets there to relive you of your self appointed duty, alright? If you don't show today, the press'll get suspicious. And when the press are suspicious and you're not here, they hound me for answers."

"Make sure everyone on that list doesn't have connections with the press, as well. Last thing I want is some reporter getting a tip from a cousin or college buddy or something that there's a meta in the hospital."

"Will do. I'd better see you in person today."

"You will."

"Alright, good," Bullock hung up.

Gordon slipped his phone back into his pants pocket and sighed. He sat back down on the bench and waited for something to happen. Ms. Phetchet stalked past him, turning her nose up and clicking back the way she came. Gordon mock saluted her back and laughed quietly to himself. He grabbed one of the magazines laying around the hospital and read an article about a new mummy uncovered in Egypt.

Not much else happened for a few hours, until Ed opened Link's door, shoved Gordon's coat at him, paused, thought about saying something, and then forcefully closed the door. It wasn't quite a slam, Ed didn't want to disturb other patients, but Gordon could tell he was angry. He smiled and pulled his coat back on.

Shortly after that, Bullock called Gordon to tell him he'd sent the first sucker over to take the first shift of babysitting; a young but promising cop still too idealistic to be corrupt. When Gordon met him, he agreed with Bullock's assessment and decided he could leave Ed and Link in his care.

Gordon went into Link's room. He found Ed still sitting in the reclined chair, leaned back with his feet on the bedside table, absentmindedly running his fingers over the grooves and joints in his prothetic hand. With his legs propped up, his pant legs hung down, revealing a glint of metal where his left leg should be. Gordon knew about the protheses, but he wasn't expecting to see the hand outside of the glove. It wasn't as unsettling as he expected, but it still startled him.

When Ed turned and saw Gordon in the doorway, he snapped upright, folding his arms, almost knocking the bedpan off the table. He gave Gordon a glare that dared him to say something about his missing limbs. Gordon didn't take the bait.

"I'm going to work, now," Gordon said. "There's an officer just outside your door, to keep you safe."

"I can protect myself."

"I'm sure you can, but Link can't. And it'll make an old man feel better. He won't come in the room unless he has too. You won't even know he's there. I'll be back in the afternoon, just to check up on you two."

"I don't know who you think we are, but we sure as hell don't need you."

"I'll probably be in about four or five," Gordon ignored Ed entirely. "Anything from the outside world you want? Sandwich, cake? The cafeteria is nice, but it's hard to live off their food for more than a few days. I recommend the pudding cups."

"Are you listening to me, old man? We don't need you!"

"Also, the social worker came. She's taking you in two weeks, or until Link wakes up, so we have to find something out to stop her from doing that, unless you want to spend the next four years in a military school upstate."

"What?" Ed paled. "Wait, what! What do mean 'military school?' She can't do that!"

"She can, but I've held her off. For now. Anyway, I'll see you this afternoon," Gordon turned to leave.

"Wait, wait, wait," Ed jumped up and quickly walked over to Gordon, grabbing his arm. "You can't just leave after dropping a bombshell like that!"

"Thought you didn't need me?"

"Well… no…" Ed stammered. "But… military school? I do not take well to authority figures. I can not go to military school. I don't even want to go to school school. I'm not going to military school."

"Then we'd better figure something out. But I still have a job. Batman is nocturnal, so someone's got to keep a lid on this mess of a city during the day. That responsibility has fallen to me. I'll see you in a few hours, alright?"

Ed looked into Gordon's eyes, still processing the military school situation, but he let go of Gordon's arm and took a step back. "Alright. You'd better not be late."

"Promise."

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review. If you're on the app and downloaded the story, please try to find time to favorite, follow, and review the story. I don't get any favorites, follows, or even views for people who download the story on the app and I have no way of knowning you like the story otherwise! I would love to hear from you all!_

 _And on another note, I don't think I've mentioned this before but I check out the profile of everyone who follows, favorites, or reviews my stories! If you've written something for a fandom I'm familiar with, I'll read it! Just as a little incentive for those of you out there to whom this applies._


	16. The Triforce Awakens

**Chapter 16**

 **The Triforce Awakens**

* * *

The rest of the week was uneventful by Gotham standards. At the moment, most of the more heinous criminals were in Arkham or Blackgate, so there wasn't much to worry about other than regular crime, which was simple enough for the force to deal with. And it meant less paperwork and less people breathing down Gordon's neck.

It gave him time to spend out of his office, though he'd thought his days of spending the afternoons in the hospital were over once Barbara was done with her physical therapy and moved into the old abandoned clock tower. He and Ed spent most of their time sitting silently in Link's room, reading a book or the Gotham Gazette, or talking about pointless things in the cafeteria.

They were avoiding talking about Ms. Phetchet and her military school. Gordon had a few ideas, but he didn't think Ed would like any of them very much, so he kept them to himself. He was saving them for a last resort. Plan Z, he was calling it.

By now, Link was finally off the respirator and was breathing on his own, but he still needed the feeding tube and a system for the other end of the digestive system. He was almost completely recovered from the craniotomy, but he hadn't woken up yet. Ed claimed he saw Link's eyes and fingers twitch, which could mean he was getting closer to waking up, and Ed held on to that hope.

That afternoon, Gordon brought an old Gazette with him and he and Ed were working on the infamous fifty by fifty Sunday crossword from a few years ago. Gordon never got around to finishing it and he'd noticed how much Ed loved stimulating his brain. Gordon had a pen and the puzzle on Link's bedside table and Ed had the hint sheet in his lap, scouring the clues for anything scientific he would know immediately.

"Here, 'the alpha bismuth'. That has to be astatine."

"Which number?"

"Eighty five," Ed said absentmindedly, already on the hunt for the next elemental clue.

"Up or down?" Gordon sighed.

"What? Oh, right, the clue. Um," Ed scanned the hint sheet again. "Three seventy three across."

"Eighty five is the atomic number, then?"

"Yeah," and Ed was back into the hint sheet.

"What's the clue for three seventy down?"

"What? Um, oh, this is a person. Uh, 'video game enthusiast of the Justice League'?"

"Damn, this could either be her first name or her alias," Gordon said.

"What are the other letters?"

"There's only an 'l' in the third place, which is the same in both."

"What are the options?"

Gordon was about to answer, when he saw a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye and the crossword was shoved to the back of his mind.

"Ed?" Link said in a quiet, raspy voice. He flinched and reached up to the feeding tube, scratching at the tape. "Where are you?"

"Link, I'm right here," Ed went to Link and grabbed his hand. Link looked around, startled, and squinted up at Ed. "Can… can you see anything?"

Link didn't answer at first. He blinked a few time and then, sniffling, shook his head. "It's all just one big, dark blur."

Gordon got up and called the nurse. They shooed Ed and Gordon out of the room to readjust Link and made sure he was alright. Three nurses and a doctor went into the room, and Ed tried to get back in, but they wouldn't let him thorough the door.

"He needs me," Ed whined.

"Patience, they'll let you back in."

It was half an hour later when they let them back into the room. Link was sitting upright in the bed, the feeding tube was still in his nose, the heart monitor was beeping steadily, and the IV was still dripping slowly, but all other apparati were unplugged and rolled to an unused corner of the room. Link looked a little shaken, but was relieved to hear Ed's voice.

"How you feeling?" Ed asked, sitting at the bedside and holding Link's hand.

Link held on tight to Ed's hand and sniffled. "I've been better, but I've had worse."

"You almost died," Ed laughed, wiping tears from his face.

"Are you crying?"

"Yes, I'm crying. It thought you weren't gonna wake up. These are happy tears."

"It was only a week, Ed. I've taken naps longer than that. I'm fine."

"Good, you'd better be."

"Is… is there someone else in here?" Link asked quietly, glancing in Gordon's direction but not seeing him. He chose to stare at his knees instead.

"Oh, yeah," Ed cleared his voice. "This is Commissioner Gordon. He helped rescue you and now he won't leave."

"It's good to see you on the mend," Gordon said.

"Thanks for looking out for Ed. He can get into trouble if he's unsupervised."

"Wow, harsh, little bro," Ed gently shoved Link's head playfully.

"I'll give you two some time alone," Gordon said. "If you need anything, I'll be right outside, alright?"

"Thank you," Link whispered.

* * *

Gordon was surprised by Link's demeanor. While Ed was loud and rude, Link was quiet and polite, a model child. It could be because of his extenuating circumstance, but Gordon suspected that Link was the nice one of the two.

Unfortunately, it was now only a matter of time before the social worker tried to send Ed to the military school upstate, and as soon as she knew Link was awake, she'd be there, potentially with SWAT backing her up. Thankfully, Gordon had a friend who had experience with Child Protective Services. He dialed him up, hoping for helpful advice.

"Bruce Wayne speaking, how may I help?"

"Bruce, it's Jim. Do you have time?"

"It's a bit late, Jim," Bruce said. "I've got a thing I have to be at in a few minutes. But I think I've got time. How much do you need?"

"Not much. I have a situation that I think you might know something about. There's these two boys in the foster system, brothers. They're about to be separated. It's just, they've recently been the victims of a very violent crime, and one of them's in the hospital. Any suggestions on how to stop the system from breaking them up?"

"Hoo boy, that's a big one," Bruce laughed. "Uh, well, I've never adopted two kids at once and none of my sons had siblings before I adopted them but…"

"I meant other than adopting them," Gordon said. "Not that I don't want to, it's just I don't think they want me to."

"Neither did Jason, but neither of us regret it now. You're a good man and a good father. They might not think it, but you're a much better alternative to getting split up by a system that only works some of the time."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Gordon laughed. "I guess I already knew that. Just needed to hear it from someone. The problem is, the social worker in charge of them is hellbent on sending the older one to a military school upstate and the younger one is already set up with a foster family in Metropolis. How would I go about adopting the two of them before either of those two become permanent?"

"Now that is tricky. Adoption can take years, but you already know the boys, right?"

"They're in the other room as we speak."

"If you go through a private agency, you can adopt them right out of New Jersey's foster system before the social worker can do anything with them. Are they citizens of New Jersey and do you know their previous parent's social security number?"

"Pretty sure they're from out of state and if they don't know their social security, no one does."

"I can send you the number of the agency I used for Dick. They're good at this situation. I'd be happy to pay the cost."

"That won't be necessary, Bruce."

"You helped me through the worst part of my life, Jim. The least I can do is help you do it again for someone else."

"That's an roundabout way of paying it forward," Gordon laughed.

"What can I say? I'm a big fan of giving kids homes and families, and I can't think of a better man to give them a loving home than you. Other than myself, of course, but the Manor's getting a bit crowded," Bruce joked. "Tim's been asking for another puppy."

"That's much better than an elephant," Gordon laughed, remembering the antics of Bruce's eldest ward.

"One other thing, if the agency can make it official tonight, that would be perfect. The little brother was in a coma and I managed to convince the social worker to leave the older brother alone until he woke up. If I'm his guardian before she leaves with him, he stays. If I can't, I might not get him back and they'll never see each other again."

"I have to go now, but I'll see what I can do. I'll be certain to tell them about the urgency."

"I appreciate it. And you don't have to pay for…"

"I have more money than I know what to do with, Jim. Let me put it to good use, alright? It's just sitting there, waiting to be used for a good cause. And this is one of the best causes there is."

"Alright, when you put it that way," Gordon sighed. "I never thought I'd accuse someone of being a philanthropy addict. Should I arrange a intervention?"

"I try," Bruce laughed. "I'll see you around, then."

"We should get breakfast or lunch some time, to catch up."

"Definitely now that I know you'll have a lot to catch me up on!"

"Alright, bye," Gordon smiled, hanging up the phone. As soon as he did, he received a text from Bruce labeled 'Adoption Agency', complete with the cell number of the employee, Will Francis, Bruce went through to adopt his first son.

According to the text, Will is almost as passionate about placing children in the right home as Bruce, followed by an emoji with a winking face and a tongue sticking out. He gathered it meant Bruce was telling a joke. Gordon could never get used to emojis, no matter how many Barbara or Bruce sent him. It made him feel old.

The text went on further to say that Gordon could call Will even at this hour, since he would be happy to help him prevent the brothers from getting separated. Gordon saved the contact and called the number.

"Will Francis, Gotham's Hope Adoption Agency, how may I help?"

Gordon was happy he responded, especially since it was past their closing hours. "I need to adopt two children right now. There can be no delay."

"Whoa 'kay," Will said, reeling. "What is the situation?"

"They're brothers and they're about to be separated and if I don't adopt them now, they may never see each other again."

"That's very sad, but how do I know that…"

"I'm Jim Gordon, Bruce Wayne might have told you about me. I just got off the phone with him."

"Bruce?" There was a pause. "Oh, yes. I see it. Just a moment." There was another pause. "Which hospital?"

"Gotham General, children's ward."

"Alright, I'll meet you at the front of the hospital in ten minutes."

* * *

"Ed?" Link whimpered, once Gordon was out of the room. "Why can't I see anything?"

"I…" Ed's voice faltered. "Well, I think when you fell off the catwalk and hit your head it hurt the part of your brain that sends and receives signals to and from your eyes and now your eyes don't work correctly anymore."

"Oh. Will… will they get better?"

"I don't know, kid." Ed said. "It's hard to say. Maybe. If everything's just blurry you could get glasses and then you'd see fine."

"Everything's just blurry," Link said. "It's like a big blob of colors and I can't tell where one shape ends and another begins."

"That sounds like a loss of vision acuity, which can be fixed with glasses."

"Have you been reading about it?"

"Maybe. I've been waiting for you to wake up for a week."

"Did you find anything about getting back to Amestris?"

"No, I was too worried about you."

"Sorry."

"Don't… don't apologize, kid. It's not your fault… what happened."

"It's not yours either, Ed."

"Sure."

"What's gonna happen to us now?"

"Nothing. Nothing's gonna happen. We're gonna be fine."

"Well, if nothing happens, we'd be stuck here forever. I mean, what's gonna happen next, Ed?"

"We're gonna get home, that's what gonna happen."

"How?"

"I… I'm still working on it. You just focus on getting better and I'll figure out the rest, alright?"

"No, Ed. Something's wrong. You're avoiding something. What is it?"

"We're in the foster care system now," Ed sighed. "They're trying to separate us but I won't let them. I'm not leaving you. They're not gonna send me to military school and they're not sending you to some stupid family in Metropolis that thinks they're saving you or some bullshit."

"Ed…"

"At the very least, they're not sending me anywhere without you and they're not sending you anywhere without me. I won't let them."

"Ed, maybe… maybe we can't fight this right now. Maybe we should just let it happen. You have a better chance of getting home without me, anyway."

"Shut up. Don't ever say that again. I promised you I'd take care of you and I will."

"But maybe you shouldn't. If they didn't have me, you'd've kicked Black Mask's butt and been out of there in seconds."

"Yeah, and if I didn't have you, what would be the point. Link, we're family now and you're not backing out of it."

"I'm blind, Ed! I can't… I can't see anything. I'm gonna slow you down now no matter what."

"I have one leg and one arm, kid. You think I give a damn if your eyes don't work? You can learn to deal with it. It's not that hard once you get used to missing something. Trust me. It'll get easier. It might not get better, but I promise it'll get easier."

"But I want to see again, Ed. I wanted… I wanted to see your home and your friends and Al and now…"

"You'll get glasses and then you can see anything you damn well please. What do you think these are for?" Ed clanked his metal hand against his metal leg. "That's all glasses are. They'll replace what you lost. Besides, you've seen me, so you've seen Alphonse. We're practically identical."

"Fine," Link grumbled. "Whatever."

Just then, the door opened and a short, thin, pointy woman walked in. She had a clipboard in one hand and a pencil in the other.

"Edward Elric?" She asked, her heals clicking against the tiled floor.

"Who are you? This is a…"

"Private room? Yes, I'm sure. I'm Ms. Phetchet, I'm the social worker assigned to your case. I heard about Link waking up. Wonderful news."

"Thanks, but we don't need…"

"I'm certain you are aware of our arrangement. You stay here until Link wakes up and then you come with me and attend school upstate. It's a good match for you, I assure you."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Ed snarled.

"Of course you are," Ms. Phetchet chuckled. "You don't have a choice. Officer?"

"Yes, ma'am?" The officer guarding Link's room nodded.

"You will help me make sure Edward is where he needs to be, yes?"

"I… um…"

"It is your duty to uphold the law and I have an official paper here saying that Edward must attend my military school."

"Well, then, I suppose it's my job but Commissioner Gordon said not to let anyone except him and staff go in and out of the room and you're not hospital staff so…"

"I am a government employee! I am legally responsible for their well being. I have more clearance to enter this room and take Edward than you or your stupid Commissioner does!" Ms. Phetchet stamped her foot down. "Do you understand that!"

"Um," the poor officer didn't know how to answer that, so he just stood there and tried to stammer a response, but he wasn't very good at it.

"Don't worry, I'll go with her," Ed snarled. Link knew that voice. Ed was not going with her.

"Ed, don't," Link said.

"It'll be alright," Ed reassured him, walking to the door.

"Oh no," Link sighed.

"Good bye, Ms. What-ever-your-name-is, I won't miss you," Ed snarled, slamming the door in her face.

"Ed, no!" Link wanted to face palm, but neither of his hands were free enough.

Ed clapped his hands together and transmuted the door into the wall, trapping them in the room but preventing Ms. Phetchet, or anyone she drew to her side, from getting in and forcibly removing Ed.

"There, problem solved," Ed said, sitting back down next to Link's bed. "Don't have to worry about that anymore."

"Ed, that doesn't solve anything."

"Open this door!" Ms. Phetchet slammed her fist on the wall where the door used to be. "Edward, you open this door!"

"What door?" Ed asked cheekily. "I don't see any door."

"Ed, you'll only make her mad."

"What's she gonna do, bust the door down? Did you see her? Bet she can't even open a pickle jar."

"Open this door!" She refused to give up. But Ed was right. There was nothing she could do to get into that room on her own.

* * *

Gordon met Will outside the hospital. Will was a portly man with a few days of stubble growing on his chubby chin. He was dressed in casual clothes, but were these his normal working hours he'd be wearing at least a dress shirt and tie, as evidenced by his posh briefcase.

"Commissioner!" Will tucked the briefcase under his arm and heartily shook Gordon's hand. "I'm so happy you're adopting. It's a beautiful thing. Beautiful. Really. Wonderful. Giving children the home they deserve, it just… I always cry when the papers are finalized. It just… makes me so happy."

"Yes, I'm sure, it is very wonderful, but we're tight on time. I don't know when the social worker's getting here, but it could be any minute. I'll take you to their room and we can sign the papers there. I need their signatures, right?"

"In absence of legal guardians, you're actually gonna need their social worker's signature."

"Can we skip that part? Or forge it?" Gordon joked, sighing. "She is not someone to be trifled with. And I don't think she likes me."

"The signature of a judge can also work."

"I think I'd have a better chance with the social worker."

They were about to head back inside when Gordon's phone rang. "Gordon," he answered.

"Commissioner, we have a problem," it was the officer stationed outside Link's room. "The social worker is here and Ed's not taking it well. I think you'd better get up here, fast."

Gordon hung up the phone. "You'd better have those papers ready," he said, running into the hospital.

By the time they got back to Link's room, Ms. Phetchet had riled up a storm. She was pacing back and forth, red faced and foaming at the mouth, yelling at anyone who walked past her. At first, Gordon didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, until he habitually checked Link's door, and found it missing.

The door hadn't been removed from the doorway, no. Where the door had once been, there was now a wall made of the same wood as the door. And on that wooden wall there was a very unflattering, childish depiction of a devil horned Ms. Phetchet spitting fire and holding a pitch fork.

Gordon rubbed the bridge of his nose under his glasses and sighed. This could only be the work of a very pissed off Ed. Gordon had been witness to a few acts of Ed's alchemy, but other than when he was working under threat from Black Mask, Ed had only used his abilities to help others or clean up one of his messes. This was the first time he'd seen something that could be considered destructive performed of Ed's own free will, and he honestly hadn't known what he'd expected.

"Commissioner Gordon!" Ms. Phetchet huffed, stamping right up to him and shoving her finger in his face. "This is your fault!"

"Is it?" Gordon remained calm. "I'm not the one trying to separate them."

"You… you encouraged this kind of behavior! You turned him against me."

"Ms. Phetchet, I did no such thing. And I don't think it's a leap to say that you alienated yourself from the boys when you decided military school was a good match for Edward."

"Who is this?" She honed in on Will and narrowed her beady little eyes at him.

"Will Francis," Will held his out in a good natured gesture of peace. "Gotham's Hope Adoption Agency. It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

"Adoption agency?" Ms. Phetchet ignored Will's hand. Gordon could see her lip twitch in irritation. "Just what are you planning, Gordon?"

"I'm adopting them, right now, with or without your approval."

"Well, I don't approve and you can't adopt them without my approval!"

"I could go straight to the judge, bypass you completely."

"By the time you get ahold of the judge, Edward will be out of your reach."

"I'm sure you'd like to think that, but I have her number on speed dial, and all it would take is for me to call in a few favors and she's down here, signing the papers, and then you won't have any say in their care. Of course, if you signed it, I'd get to keep those favors and it would save us all a lot of trouble. The judge is probably at home right now with her family and if she was interrupted simply because you wouldn't sign some adoption forms… I don't think you'd be in her best of graces."

"Jim Gordon, you are a despicable man," Ms. Phetchet snarled.

"And from the looks of it, the children in your care don't think very highly of you either," Gordon gave the caricature an amused glance. "How about a compromise. If I can get Edward to put the door back, you'll let me adopt them. How's that sound?"

"I think you put him up to this just so you two could pull this little stunt."

"Regardless, it would mean I'm better at handling them than you are. And I give you my word, I had no idea that Edward would go this far to stay with his brother."

"Fine. If you can get him to put the door back, I'll let you adopt them."

"Will, get those papers ready," Gordon said. It was time to put his father skills to the test.

He went up to where the door should have been and wrapped his knuckles on the wood. "Edward?"

"What?" Ed's disgruntled voice answered from behind the wall.

"Put the door back, please."

"Make me!"

"Edward. I'm asking nicely. You're endangering your brother."

"There are two things that can make me put that door back. Link needing medical attention, and for that bitch to leave."

"Ed, don't be rude," Link hissed, only just loud enough for Gordon to hear.

"What? She is!"

"She's just trying to do her job. Just 'cause she's not any good at it doesn't mean she isn't trying."

"How about if I give you my word that if you put this door back, she can't take you anywhere? Will that work?"

"Oh yeah? And how are you gonna do that."

"I'm going to adopt the both of you."

Ed didn't answer, but he heard hushed whispering as the boys discussed his proposal.

"Ed, I need to know you heard me."

"I heard you," Ed snapped. "We don't…"

"Look, Ed. I know it sounds like a permanent solution to a temporary problem, but the only reason it's temporary is because we're going to fix it, alright? I know you don't think it's ideal, or even a good idea, but I'm asking you to trust me."

"I don't need you to solve my problems, old man!" Ed shouted.

"He'll do it," Link said.

"What? No I won't. Link, we don't…"

"Will you stop being a dumbass!" Link shouted. He add more in a quitter tone and Gordon couldn't make out exactly what he said, but he heard Ed's response.

"Sometimes I hate it when you're right."

There was a clap and a flash of blue light and the door morphed back into a door. Much to Ms. Phetchet's chagrin and Gordon's amusement, Ed failed to remove the unflattering caricature. But the doorknob was back, so Gordon decided not to push his luck.

Ed opened the door and gave them all a glare before returning to the reclining chair next to the bed and plopped down, crossing his arms and glowering at no one in particular. "I'm not happy about this," he announced.

"I'm sure you're not happy about most things," Gordon sighed.

Ed harrumphed.

Will brought his briefcase into the room and pulled out an official looking paper. "If everyone will just sign this, everything will be resolved," he said, a well meaning smile on his face.

First, he signed on his dotted line, then he handed Gordon the pen and pointed out where to sign. Ms. Phetchet signed on her dotted line, glared at Ed, and then left. Ed flipped her off when her back was turned.

Before Ed signed, he read the entire packet, which would have taken a while if he wasn't such a proficient speed reader, and it only took a few minutes. Ed was hesitant, but he signed where instructed, satisfied, though not happy, with the arrangement, and all that left was Link.

"I can't really… see the paper," Link mumbled sheepishly. "Ed can sign for me."

"It's no problem," Will said. "I have a signature guide in my case."

"No, really, Ed can sign for me."

"It has to be you."

"But I can't see the paper."

"I can sign for him," Ed insisted.

"No, it's got to be Link."

"I can't write," Link whispered.

"I didn't catch that, can you repeat it?" Will asked.

"I… I'm tired," Link said, louder this time. "The lady's gone, so can't we finish this later?"

"It'd be easier for everyone if you just signed now. If you're uncomfortable with writing something as complicated as a signature, you can mark the line with an X and I can sign that it was you who signed."

"Alright," Link said. "But… only because I can't see the paper, right?"

"Of course."

Will helped Link find the line and he marked an X. Then Will signed to confirm the X belonged to Link. They were out of the foster system and no one could take them away, and, as Will had said, everything was resolved.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	17. Is There a Real Plot

**Chapter 17**

 **Is There a Real Plot or Will They Never Find Amestris?**

* * *

Link hadn't been lying about being tired, and as soon as the stress of Ed being taken away was lifted, he drifted off to sleep. At first, Ed panicked, thinking Link had slipped back into a coma, and it took three nurses and one doctor to convince him Link was merely napping.

"Why does he need to take a nap? He's been asleep for a week," Ed grumbled after the nurses left.

"A coma isn't as conductive to healing as sleeping," Gordon explained. "His body has been fighting to stay alive and he needs proper rest to get better."

"If it were me I'd be out of the hospital the moment I regained consciousness," Ed complained.

"Well, something can certainly be said about the healing powers of stubbornness," Gordon sighed. One very particular person came to mind. He glanced out the window and wondered if Batman was out there on a rooftop, watching to make sure Black Mask's thugs couldn't get to Ed and Link.

Ed hated hospitals and seven straight days in one was driving him up the wall. He started pacing back and forth like a caged animal, occasionally glancing back at Link to see if he'd woken from his nap yet.

"Why don't you sit down, Edward," Gordon said. "You look almost as tired as Link."

"I'm not tired."

"Hungry, then," Gordon said. "There's a small diner near here. I think it's time you spend at least an hour outside of this room."

"I'm not leaving Link," Ed snarled.

"I know you don't want to, but Link needs to be here to recover. You do not need to be here. You're getting stir crazy. We're going to the diner."

"But…"

"We won't be gone long, I promise. Grab your coat. We'll walk."

"But…"

"I will drag you if I have to. We're coming right back."

"Fine, whatever," Ed snapped. "It's better than military school."

"Many things are," Gordon smiled.

* * *

The diner Gordon spoke of was only a ten minute walk from the hospital. It had a quaint, cozy feeling and a fifties theme, with red and white tile. The red vinyl booths had yellow foam sticking out from where the vinyl was worn and cracked. In one corner there was a juke box playing music from the appropriate era.

They sat down at a booth near the jukebox. There weren't many other patrons, just a family of five in one corner and a group of teenagers at the counter, all eating from a huge portion of cheesy fries and complaining about life.

"Hey, Commish, what'll it be?" The waitress, Sally, greeted them.

"I'll have the usual, decaf," Gordon said, not even looking at their menu. "My friend here will have the same. You drink coffee?"

"No," Ed frowned.

"He'll have a milkshake."

"Flavor?"

"Strawberry," Gordon answered.

"Alright, hon," Sally said, writing down a shorthand of their order and leaving.

"Why'd you order for me? I know how to order food. I'm not a baby," Ed snapped once the waitress was out of earshot.

"I know you're not, but I know what their best dish is, I'm not buying you a soda, they don't have orange juice, and I figured you wouldn't want water."

"I don't like milk," Ed grumbled.

"A milkshake isn't milk, it's ice cream in drink form."

"It's still milk based. You know, part of why I don't like milk is where it comes from. It's not just the taste. Humans are the only species that drinks the milk of another animal. It's not natural."

"Unnatural or not, you'll like milkshakes, trust me," Gordon said.

"Whatever," Ed rested his elbows on the table and glared out the window.

They sat in silence while they waited for their food. Gordon did something on his phone while Ed watched people walk past the window. The later it got, the seedier the people became, and the less of them there were.

When their food arrived, it smelled like grease and meat, but it looked appetizing. The meat was well cooked, the bun toasted, and the tomatoes and lettuce were crisp. Ed's favorite part were the fries, but he didn't want to admit he liked any of it, least of all the milkshake, which he did, in fact, enjoy.

"How did you and Link meet?"

"Long story," Ed said, chewing his food quietly, trying not to show how much he was enjoying it.

"Is there a short version?"

"No."

"Alright," Gordon took a drink from his coffee. "Mind telling me how you got your powers?"

"I do mind," Ed said flatly, his face darkening.

"How'd you end up in Gotham?"

"Is there a point to these questions?" Ed snapped.

"We're going to be stuck with one another for a while," Gordon said. "Might as well get to know each other a little better."

"What makes you think we're sticking around after Link's better? I have better places to be than this hell hole."

"Do you?"

"Yeah, I do!" Ed grew dangerously close to attracting the attention of the other patrons of the diner, but he didn't want to make a scene. He quickly downed some fries to stop himself from overreacting. "I have a family."

"And yet you're here."

Ed clenched his fists. He had to fight not to sock Gordon in the jaw.

"Why did you leave?"

"I didn't leave, I… I…" Ed tried to come up with a better excuse than 'I was abducted by aliens'. It wasn't that he didn't think Gordon would believe him, what with Superman living next door. It was just that he didn't want to seem even more out of place than he already did. "I don't know how I left. All I know is one moment, I was were I was supposed to be, and the next I wasn't. I don't want to talk about this."

"Is that how you met Link?"

"Yeah. We were both in the wrong place at the same time. He didn't have anywhere to go back to or anyone waiting for him, so I said he could come with me and now we're family."

"If you have a family, why didn't you call them sooner?"

"They… I… I'm not…" Ed took a deep breath. He figured if he hid it for too long, he'd either never get home or it'd be incredibly awkward when it did get out. "I'm not from Earth."

"That would make things more difficult," Gordon said, taking the news that he'd just adopted two aliens in stride.

"There's not a lot that can get a reaction out of you, is there?"

"I have a thick skin. You work with Batman as long as I have and not a lot of things will surprise you."

"It's your turn."

"Alright."

"Why'd you adopt us? Why do you care so much? I mean, why didn't you just drop me off at the hospital and then go back to work?"

"It wouldn't have been the right thing to do."

"Oh yeah? You're a real Good Samaritan, you know that? Why the white knight act? Why'd you become a cop?"

"I wanted to help people. You know those little kids, you ask them what they want to be when they grow up and they say firefighter or astronaut or police officer? I was that kid, I just never changed my mind."

"Why Gotham, of all places?"

"More work," Gordon laughed. "In all seriousness, I was transferred here right from the academy. There have been days where I wished I'd been transferred to Metropolis instead, but I'm pretty sure this shit hole would fall apart if it weren't for me."

"Thought Batman was the big hero."

"I've been here longer. And I'm his connection to the GCPD. If anyone else were Commissioner, Batman would still be a wanted vigilante and not working alongside us, which would not only slow him down, but it would waste resources needed elsewhere. The Bat-Signal was my idea."

"Cool. So, um, how do you think Batman would react if I tried my hand at his kind of crime fighting?"

"I know how I'd react," Gordon said, much, much sterner than before. "And you'd be grounded."

"What? Robin and Batgirl do it."

"I'm not Robin and Batgirl's legal guardian. Plus, Batman is very territorial. It comes with being a Gothamite."

"No one shit talks Gotham but Gotham," Ed smirked.

"Exactly."

They were close to finishing their meal, and Ed was starting to get antsy. His stir craze was gone and now he just wanted to be next to Link, making sure he was getting better. He was pushing a soggy fry around his plate when the waitress returned and asked them about dessert. Ed was ready to leave, but there was an apple pie in a display on the counter. He'd been eyeing it the whole time, and it hadn't gone unnoticed.

"How quickly can you get us a slice of apple pie and some cherry cobbler?"

"If you don't want it heated, I can have it out in a jiffy."

"Well, Edward. Want dessert?"

Ed gave the apple pie a good, long look. All he could think about was Winry's apple pie and how she promised him one when he returned. Something odd itched at the back of his head the longer he thought of Winry's apple pie, and the longer he looked at the pie in the display, the harder it was to stop thinking of Winry.

"No," Ed said, though it was difficult. "No, maybe next time."

"We'll have the check then, Sally."

"Right away."

Gordon payed for their dinner and they left. The street was growing more deserted, and Ed noticed Gordon was actively avoiding darker areas and was almost as on edge as he had been in the emergency waiting room. The darker the sky got, the more dangerous the streets became.

"Why didn't you want the pie?" Gordon asked.

"No reason," Ed shrugged.

"You were looking at it the whole time, there has to be a reason you said no."

"I'm on a diet," Ed joked. He remembered Winry and his face fell. "Before I left to… study abroad… my closest friend promised to bake me an apple pie when I got home. Home home, not just the right world. It just… reminded me of her, I guess

"Saving it for later, then?"

"Yeah, suppose so," Ed shrugged.

* * *

Back in the hospital, a doctor stopped them just outside Link's room. When Ed got twitchy and nervous, the doctor allowed them into the room, but from the serious look on his face, Gordon decided it would be best if he stayed to see what the doctor had to say.

"Something on your mind?" Gordon asked.

"Yes, um, well, um, yes, actually," the doctor stuttered. He was a very young man, if Gordon had to guess he was either still an intern or freshly out of the hospital's internship program. "Heh, Link is my first patient without… supervision, so to speak." The doctor shifted nervously. "You are Link's legal guardian now, yes?"

"I just finished signing the papers tonight," Gordon nodded.

"Yes, well, that's good, I mean, great, yes. Um…" he nervously flipped through the clipboard in his hand, not actually looking at the papers. "So, um, about Link… right, uh…"

"Something I should know?"

"Well," his voice raised in pitch. "Yes, there is. He, um… uh… heh."

"Spit it out, man," Gordon was growing impatient. The initial charm in the young man's awkwardness was starting to fade.

"The X-rays… err… MRI, that is, that… that we took," his voice cracked again. "Well, um. There was, uh… evidence of past trauma unrelated to the, uh, kidnapping… incident. And, um, it doesn't look like the normal things kids do, like falling out trees and stuff like that."

"Explain," Gordon grew serious.

"Well, um, almost every bone in his body shows signs of having been broken before and he's covered in scar tissue. Burns, lacerations, blunt force trauma, breaks. There isn't a part of him untouched, pretty much. I'm not… I'm not an expert in… these things. Well, I am a trained doctor. I know medical and… and things like that… but… I think… it's my opinion… professional opinion that he's been physically abused, brutalized even, by a previous caregiver and… uh… as his current caregiver I thought that you should know… that."

"Is that all?" Gordon asked, afraid there'd be more evidence of past traumas.

"Um, well… I don't think it was his brother, if you were worried. If anything, they might have gone through the same abuse, judging from the visible scaring on Ed, but most of that looks surgery related or looks like it was properly treated on time. There's little evidence that the proper measures were ever taken for Link's more… internal scaring… places.

Which is why I concluded that it might be abuse by a caregiver and not some previous kidnapping and torture… incident. B… because then… he would have received proper care after being removed from the situation but… it doesn't look he was and… um… I think that you should… ah… ask him about it. When he's feeling better, of course.

And maybe when he likes you or something. I don't know. Maybe, see a counselor or therapist or something. I mean, they've been through a lot and should get professional… help."

"Thank you, I'll run that past them," Gordon said. The doctor looked eager to find a way to end their conversation, so Gordon gave it to him. He stuttered something that vaguely sounded like 'goodbye' and then ducked down the hallway.

Steeling himself with this new information, Gordon went back into Link's room. He was starting to get to know Ed and get the older boy to lower some of his defenses, the breakthrough at the diner was a major victory in earning Ed's trust, but he knew next to nothing about Link. He genuinely wanted to get to know these two boys. Their wellbeing was his responsibility, and the last thing he wanted was for them to think he was only doing it out of pity. Pity had nothing to do with it.

He wondered if Link's quietness was related to the recent events or if it was something deeper; if he was afraid, or merely cautious. Gordon decided to assume that he was tired and polite and left it at that. Best not to jump to conclusions before gathering all the facts. Only Link held all of the facts and he'd have to earn Link's trust before he could ask him about his past.

"What'd the doc say?" Ed asked as soon as Gordon entered. He had sat down on the chair next to the bed.

"They said something?" Link asked, his voice barely a whisper. He must have woken up when Ed entered the room. "Is something wrong?"

"In light of the past events, the doctor recommends professional counseling to help you process everything you went through with the kidnapping," Gordon said, deciding it was best to withhold most of what the doctor said.

"Oh, well that's not so bad," Ed shrugged.

"Really? I thought you wouldn't like having to see a therapist," Gordon raised an eyebrow, curious.

"Well, I'm not going to a shrink, so there's nothing to worry about," Ed said, leaning back arrogantly with his hands behind his head, his elbows sticking out, his feet on Link's bedside table.

"Is that so?"

"Ed, stop," Link whispered. "You'll make him mad."

"Pff, doubt it," Ed scoffed. "His only emotions are mild amusement and mild annoyance."

Gordon had to force himself not to laugh. He'd hate to give Ed's theory a solid case. "It's alright, Link. I won't force either of you to do something you don't want to do. Except school. I'm legally obligated to make you go to school, but it's summer now, so we don't have to worry about that for another month."

"I draw the line at school," Ed said, immediately sitting back up. "I'm not going to school. That's… that's permanent."

"Wait… does he know about… he knows?"

"I told him, yeah," Ed said. "I think he used one of his detective interrogation techniques on me or something."

"I don't usually take suspects to my favorite diner when I'm interrogating them," Gordon laughed. "What you experienced was my father technique. Patient pending."

"Yeah, well, I don't need a father," Ed snarled vehemently, getting to his feet and clenching his fists. Gordon hadn't been expecting such a violent reaction.

"Ed, don't!" Link squeaked, flinching at the forcefulness in Ed's voice. Gordon was grateful Link couldn't see Ed's hate filled expression as well.

Ed relaxed at the sound of Link's voice but he didn't back down. "We don't need you and we especially don't need a father," Ed hissed, spitting the word father like it was the worst curse word he knew. "So you can take your 'father technique' and shove it up your…"

"Ed!" Link snapped. "Stop it. He was just being nice. Why are you such a jerk?"

"We don't need him," Ed said, sitting down.

"I'm sure we don't need him. But that doesn't mean it won't be nice to not be on our own for once," Link said. "Won't it be nice not to have to worry about where we're gonna find food or a safe place to sleep? I mean, I know you really wanted to do all that yourself, but now that you don't have too, that leaves more time for trying to find a way home right?"

Ed sighed and reluctantly nodded, resting his elbows on the chair's arms and his head in his hands.

"And can you please stop overreacting all the time? I'm really tired and I don't want to have to keep talking you down before you blow something up."

Ed laughed, rubbing his forehead. "Sorry, kid. I'll try to take it down a notch."

"Thank you," Link said, sighing.

"I suppose it's too much to ask for an apology?" Gordon said lightheartedly.

"I'll apologize when I'm dead," Ed said, only half serious.

He leaned back in the chair and sighed a heavy sigh. He placed a hand on the bed and Link wrapped his fingers around it. And like that, Ed was asleep. It was only seven at night and Gordon had never seen Ed fall asleep so quickly. He suspected Ed was forcing himself to stay awake as long as possible to increase his chances of being there when Link woke up.

Gordon realized this was the first time he was alone with Link. Ed had the habit of sleeping like a rock. Nothing could wake him short of Link kicking the bucket. Neither of them knew what to say, so Gordon stood awkwardly at the foot of the bed while Ed slept.

"Need anything?" Gordon asked, breaking the silence.

"Sight would be nice," Link said quietly.

"Well, I'm afraid I'm no miracle worker," Gordon chuckled. "But if it's acuity that's the problem, you're in luck. There's therapy to help you regain some of your sight and glasses to get you the rest of the way."

"That's good, I guess," Link mumbled.

"Glasses aren't all that bad. I've got them."

"I'd much rather be able to see on my own again."

"I'm not sure if that's possible."

They fell into silence once more, and Gordon found himself rocking aimlessly on his feet, trying to think of something else to say. Small talk seemed odd and cumbersome under the circumstances, but anything else seemed much too personal for their first real conversation.

When Link made no attempt to break the silence again, Gordon cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "I'm going to go back to work. If you need me for anything, have a nurse call me on my phone, alright?"

"Oh," Link said, even quieter than before.

"Alright," Gordon said, pointed behind him and then going for the door. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, then." He had his hand in the door knob and was about to leave when he heard Link's small voice call out to him.

"Wait!"

He stopped.

"Don't… don't leave," Link said, growing quieter still when he realized he'd raised his voice. "I… I don't want to be alone."

"You're not alone, Link," Gordon said gently. "Edward is here and if you press that button," he pointed to the call button on the remote for Link's bed, "a nurse will come in and check on you."

"No, but…" Link fumbled. "Ed's a heavy sleeper and… and… I don't… I know the nurses are nice and all but… they can't protect me."

"That's why I've assigned a guard to your room. He won't let anyone in here but the nurses, me, and Edward."

"I… I don't… trust… I mean… he's not…"

"And I have a hunch that Batman has been keeping an eye on your room from across the street. If there's anyone who can protect you from Black Mask, it's him."

"I'm not afraid of Black Mask!" Link said, exasperated. "I… I'm afraid I'm not gonna wake up or… or something bad's gonna happen because I was asleep and I couldn't… I couldn't…" Link's sentence fell off and he was left sniffling sadly.

Gordon sighed and walked to Link's bedside. "Link, I promise you're not going to fall into another coma. And you know what?" Gordon went and got the chair he'd been sitting in before Link had woken up and sat next to the bed across from Ed. "I'll sit right here, all night, to make sure. How does that sound? Good?"

"Okay," Link nodded.

And with that, Link drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	18. I Swear This Story's Going Somewhere

**Chapter 18**

 **I Swear This Story's Going Somewhere**

* * *

Gordon stayed while Link and Ed slept. He wished he could say both boys looked more peaceful when they slept, but poor little Link was restless and disturbed all night. When a nurse came by late at night just to check on them, Gordon asked if there was anything to help Link sleep better, but the nurse said Link was terrified of anything that made him sleep and had nearly hurt himself trying to pull the IV out when they tried to give him a sedative. They weren't sure how he immediately recognized it as a sedative, but his reaction was dangerous nonetheless.

Considering that Link was scared of falling asleep and staying asleep forever, Gordon wasn't surprised. He wondered if it had anything to do with Link's multitude of scars, but he didn't know how to ask if the two were related without scaring the poor boy. He could already tell Link was timid enough around him, he didn't want to accidentally hurt or alienate him. He'd have to be careful when trying to earn Link's trust.

Where Ed needed someone to push back, Link would need to be tiptoed around. Regardless of the approached, they would both need time and patience. Gordon only hoped he could provide it.

The next morning, the same doctor from last night pulled Gordon out of the room to discuss Link's treatment going into the future.

"How long's he going to be here?"

"Two weeks," the doctor said, much more practiced this time. "We just want to keep him here for observation. Then he should be able to go home! And, uh," he faltered, checking thorough his clipboard again. "Yes! I'll need him to come in for a check up every few days for about a month or two, and he'll need physical therapy to get those arms and his knee back in working order. And… also go to an optometrist and see about glasses and vision therapy. I'd say he'll be good as new in three months."

"Well, that's certainly good news. Is there an optometrist in this building he can go to? I think he'd like to have his glasses as soon as possible."

"There is, yes. I'll tell her about you and she'll get to you as soon as she can," the doctor stammered. "And, um, the nurses wanted me to tell you that… um, Edward can't stay in Link's room outside visiting hours anymore since you are his legal guardian now so only you can do that."

"Well, with Link finally on the mend, I might be able to convince him to leave this afternoon."

"About that, the nurses wanted me to tell you that they want Edward out of their way right now."

"You tell them I'll do my best but I can't make any promises," Gordon sighed.

"I will… do that, so… uh… good night… morning! Good morning," the young doctor hid behind his clipboard and scurried away to inform the nurses that Gordon would try.

Gordon went back into the room to find Link awake and shaking. It looked like he was crying.

"Link, what's wrong?" Gordon went to his bedside immediately, habitually checking for a temperature. Link flinched when his hand grew close, but he didn't pull away. "Are you hurt? Do you need a nurse?"

"I thought you left," he said quietly, wiping tears from his face.

"No, the doctor wanted to talk to me," Gordon said, relaxing. "I was only gone for a few minutes."

"Oh," Link sniffled. "What'd he say?"

"You'll be ready to go home in two weeks."

"Home," Link whispered the word. It felt alien in his mouth. "Did he say anything about my sight?"

"The optometrist will see you as soon as she can," Gordon said. When Link looked confused he added, "the eye doctor. She'll determine the prescription of glasses you'll need."

"That's good," Link said.

"How'd you sleep?"

Link shrugged. "Had worse nights," he said.

"You didn't have any nightmares or…"

Link shook his head vigorously. "No!"

"If you ever want to talk about it, you can tell me," Gordon said. "Now, about waking Edward."

"It's next to impossible to wake Ed when he's sleeping," Link said.

"Well that's a shame. The nurses want him to stick to visiting hours from now on, and it's not visiting hours."

"I guess I could try," Link said. "Ed…" Link poked Ed's right shoulder, not realizing Gordon knew Ed had no feeling in that arm. "Hey, Ed. Wake up." Ed didn't stir. "Nope, he's asleep. Guess he'll have to stay a bit longer, then."

"You don't want him to leave, do you?"

Link's face turned red. He shook Ed's left arm this time, and Ed blinked awake. Blearily, he pulled a strand of hair out of his mouth and made a face.

"Morning," Gordon smirked.

"Screw you," Ed grumbled, still half asleep and only recognizing Gordon's voice as not Link's. "What'd I miss?"

"You… the nurses said you have to go…" Link whispered.

"They've been bothering me about you getting in their way," Gordon added. "I'm going to take you to work with me until it's visiting hours again. Then straight back here until seven."

"I'm not leaving," Ed snarled.

"Edward, you weren't even supposed to be here last night. If you stay any longer they'll have to call security, and knowing you, that could get messy."

"You don't know me," Ed snapped.

"I do," Link said. "And I think it'd be best if you did what the nurses want."

"You really want me to leave?"

"I dunno, I guess."

"But you hate being alone."

"I'm not alone. There are doctors and nurses and stuff who'll be here and all I have to do is push a button and they'll come in and check on me, right?" Link looked in Gordon's general direction.

"That's right. Link will be fine without us. That's what hospitals are for."

"Yeah, well… whatever!" Ed stood up. "I don't want to be here anyway."

Link rolled his eyes and sighed. "Just get out already."

* * *

The dayshift at the GCPD wasn't slow, by any means, but it certainly wasn't as interesting as the nightshift. Being the Commissioner, Gordon didn't have official office hours; he'd come in when he was needed or if he felt like it. This meant he was often there for the nightshift, but when that was slower than usual he'd opt for the day shift. It was Batman who was nocturnal, not him.

It was one of the slower days, mostly paperwork passed through his office, almost all of which were requests of some kind, such as assignments, policies, funding. Because of the nature of the GCPD and the corruption still permeating within, Gordon always had to be extra careful to read and fact check each request to make sure he wasn't being duped by some hotshot wannabe intent on advancing their career via shadier outlets.

While Gordon was having one of his better days on the job, he could tell Ed was not enjoying their impromptu Bring Your Foster Son to Work Day. He was pacing back and forth at one end of the office, groaning impatiently every few minutes after glancing at the wall clock, and nervously tapping his teeth with his metal finger. Gordon assumed Ed had an old habit of biting his nails that he countered by pretending to bite the nails of a hand he no longer had.

"Edward, he's fine," Gordon said after half an hour of Ed's nervous antics. "There were no complications, he's awake and alert, and he'll be out of the hospital in two weeks."

"There haven't been any complications yet," Ed hissed, glancing at the clock once more.

"At least sit down, you'll wear a hole in the floor."

Ed sat down on the leather couch in the corner with a heavy thud; the air trapped in the cushions whooshed out. He slumped against the back of the couch, crossed his arms, grumbled and scowled at the wall clock, and began tapping his right heel against the floor. Gordon sighed.

"You want a coloring book or something?"

"Haha, very funny," Ed snapped.

"Suit yourself," Gordon shrugged. "Barbara had fun drawing funny faces on them."

"Who's Barbara?"

"My daughter. I didn't tell you about her?"

"First time I've heard anything about that. How come I haven't met her?"

"She's moved out and she's not fond of hospitals. And I might have also forgotten to tell her about you two."

"Real smooth," Ed scoffed.

"Maybe I should invite her over for dinner once Link's checked out of the hospital."

"Is this going to be before or after you tell her she's suddenly got two brothers?"

"We'll find out in two weeks," Gordon said. He decided to talk to Bruce again and ask him how he went about telling Dick about Jason and Tim.

Before Ed could continue making fun of Gordon for forgetting about his daughter, Bullock poked his head through the door. He neglected to knock.

"Jim, there you are," Bullock said, walking through the door. "You busy?" He saw Ed fidgeting angrily on the couch. "Who's the kid?"

Gordon introduced them.

"Well, pleasure to meet you, kid," Bullock said, holding out a hand in friendship.

Ed didn't take it.

"What's the matter? I don't bite."

"You don't, but he might," Gordon said.

Ed smirked mischievously.

"Eheh," Bullock retracted his hand and cleared his throat. "Anyway, Vale's been hounding me all morning and I was wondering if you could get her off my back for me?"

"Oh, is that all?" Gordon sighed. "Harv, I'm busy. And I'm not in the mood to handle a reporter for you, nor is it a good time for any reporter to be storming into this office, let alone Vicki Vale."

"Eh, worth a shot," Bullock shrugged. "At least fending off reporters isn't as dangerous as the usual crowd." In a grumble, he added, "Not much easier, though."

"Was there anything else?"

"Naw, just wanted to know how the boys were doing,"

"Link woke up last night."

"Oh, well good for him!"

[Harvey and Gordon talk about Ed's time as Black Mask's henchman and this pisses Ed off. They bring up Ed being a key witness in the crimes he was involved in, but since they have enough evidence for other things, Gordon decides not to drag Ed nor Link through the dangers of being a witness in a trial against a supervillain, or Super Mob boss, as in the case of Black Mask.]

* * *

When they returned to the hospital, Ed made a b-line for Link's room. Gordon had to grab Ed's coat to stop him from rushing in there before Gordon checked them in to the guest registry. Ed grumbled about it and impatiently tapped his foot on the linoleum while Gordon made polite small talk with the volunteer behind the visitors' desk. As soon as Gordon finished signing his name and the time, Ed was off.

Link was sitting more upright than this morning. He looked much better. There was more color in his cheeks and he didn't look quite as miserable, made more prominent with how happy he was to hear Ed's voice and see the brightly colored blurs of Ed's golden hair and bright red sweatshirt.

Ed was already sitting in the chair next to Link's bed, so Gordon was once more relegated to standing at the foot of the bed like a silent guardian. The chair he'd brought in last time had been removed.

"How you feeling, little brother?" Ed asked, playfully ruffling Link's hair.

"Ed, it's only been, like, five hours, I'm pretty much the same as I was this morning. You're such a worrywart."

"Well, you look better," Ed said.

"Guess my outside is catching up with my inside," Link shrugged. "The… the… um… opt… opt…"

"Eye doctor?"

Link scrunched up his face, still trying to recall the longer, fancier word. "Opto…"

"Optometrist," Gordon supplied.

"Optometrist," Link grumbled, frustrated that Gordon has corrected him before he had a chance to remember it himself. "She tested my eyes a few hours ago and said that she can get a prescription strong enough that I'll be able to see just as well as before, but my eyes don't work together anymore, so I'll need eye therapy, which could take a few months. Plus physical therapy to get better from the broken bones and regain my full range of motion, especially with my knee."

"Physical therapy's not so bad. It's the same as exercising every morning."

"That sounds like it sucks," Link pouted.

"Aw, come on. I did three years worth of physical therapy in one when I was your age."

"Oh, well, good for you. You're so special," Link stuck his tongue out.

"That doesn't seem like a good idea," Gordon said, thinking back on how Barbara tried to work extra hard to regain her mobility faster than the doctors said she would, but ended up hurting herself instead. "Link, I don't want you trying to rush yourself. You could get hurt."

"Yeah, well he's not gonna need three years, only a couple months," Ed sounded defensive as soon as he recognized Gordon's 'father voice'.

"The doctor said two, six tops," Link said. He shifted uncomfortably, not recognizing Gordon's 'father voice', but definitely recognizing Ed's defensive tone. "And, um, the optometrist said that the hospital added her expenses to the hospital bill. Also my glasses."

"Aw, you picked without me!" Ed complained. "What they look like?"

"I don't know, I couldn't see them. And this isn't actually an eye doctor office, so they didn't have a big selection."

Gordon was content to stand at the end of the room while the boys talked, but his phone began to ring. He excused himself to answer it. He hated to notice Ed relaxing when he left, and Link relaxing in response. He hoped it wasn't a trend that would continue to escalate. He was doing his best to not provoke them.

[Conversation with Barbara. Nothing special.]

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	19. Home is Where the Monster Can't Get You

**Chapter 19**

 **Home is Where the Monster Can't Get You**

* * *

Finally, Link was cleared to go home. Ed sat in the back of the car with him and loudly voiced his complaints on Gordon's driving, despite the fact that Ed didn't know how to drive. Gordon snapped at him for being a backseat driver.

Gordon's house was located on Tricorner Island, a small, triangular island south of Downtown that was mostly suburban homes. It wasn't the biggest or prettiest house on the street, but it wasn't the worst house either. Just a small, off white, one story home. The lawn was getting overgrown, but it wasn't an eyesore yet.

The weirdest part of the house to Link was that it was Home. He didn't want to get out of the car. He was afraid if he went inside, everything would fall apart at the seems and suddenly Gordon would turn in the safety of his own home, where prying eyes wouldn't be able to see him hit them and say mean and hurtful things. Pretty much everyone else had been mean to them thus far, excluding the doctors and nurses, but they hadn't really been nice, either. They were just doing their jobs.

Link had never had a home where there wasn't someone who tormented, ridiculed, and hurt him. His first home had Mido, and his second; he didn't like to think about his second home. Maybe this time, things would be different.

Gordon pulled into the garage and turned off the car. When Ed and Gordon both got out, Link took a deep breath and tried to reassure himself that the third time was the charm. If he didn't count the Doctor abandoning him, then this was his third home. Three was his lucky number.

Gordon opened Link's door and handed him his crutches. Ed was already at the door, waiting for Gordon to unlock it. He looked upset that Gordon had beat him to getting Link's crutches, but he'd be damned if he also beat him to the door, despite him being the one with the keys.

While Link hobbled up to the door, Gordon unlocked it. The door in the garage opened straight into the kitchen. For Link, entering the house itself was the moment of truth. He'd hadn't been this nervous or scared since he first entered the Great Deku Tree to fight off Ghoma. Gordon could turn on them the moment the door closed behind them, and Link could hardly defend himself. And Gordon had a gun. Black Mask had a gun, too.

Gordon noticed Link practically shrink as soon as he entered the house. At first, he thought it was just because of the dim lighting, so as soon as he punched the password for his silent alarm system, he flipped the lights on, but Link only cowered more with the door closed and locked behind him, lit room or not. Gordon was worried that Link was afraid of him.

"Ed can show you around. I have some extra work to do," Gordon excused himself. As he left the kitchen, he glanced back through the sliding glass doors to see if Link relaxed with him gone, and was disheartened to see Link exhale a breath he'd been holding. If he ever found out who'd done this to such a kind, trusting, sweet little boy, they'd have hell to pay.

"Dining room's over there," Ed pointed to the double archways across the kitchen from the garage entrance, "also the door to the backyard. Living room," Ed pointed to the room beyond the sliding glass doors to the right, "our room is on the right, Gordon's is the left. Bathroom's in the middle. It's not very big, but it's not half bad, I guess."

"I've never lived in a real house before," Link said quietly. "I mean, I've been inside of a few, but not for more than an hour at a time."

"You… where did you grow up?"

"Tree house," Link said. "It was half the size of this room and didn't have a door or window shutters. It got really cold at night. Actually, I didn't even know what a door was until I was about eight or nine."

"What about after that?"

Link shrugged. "They said I outgrew my tree house and had to leave. I didn't have anywhere else to go, so I just kinda wandered around. The ranch I got Epona from, I slept in the barn with the horses and the cow. It didn't smell very nice and the hay was itchy, but at least it was warm. The owners were nice, I guess, and the daughter was my age and we played a lot and did the chores together, but I still felt like an outsider. It was lonely. Once Epona was big enough to ride, I left."

"So this is the first real house you've lived in?"

"I'm sorry. I wanted it to be your house, but I guess that didn't work out."

"Jeez, kid. It doesn't matter if this isn't technically my house. I burned my house down when I was eleven. What matters is that we're living in it together. That's what makes it a home. Hell, we're even sharing a room."

"But I didn't think you'd want to call this home? Home is Amestris?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Ed sighed.

"I'm sorry," Link whispered. "I didn't mean to make you sad."

"I don't want to ruin your first house by refusing to call it home," Ed said. "I'm willing to… call this home, even if it's only temporary, if it'll make you happy. Besides, refusing to be happy here will only make me miserable and angry, and it'll be harder to research how to get back if I'm like that."

Link was happy that they could both call it home, even if Ed had to come up with a roundabout reason to justify it, but he was starting to get sore supporting most of his weight on his crutches. Ed noticed him shifting his weight uncomfortably.

"I put your duffle on the dresser. If you want to go lie down or unpack or something…"

"No, I'd rather sit down."

"Gordon's got a lot of books, you could read one of those."

Link shook his head. "Is there something we can do together?"

"He's got a chess set. We could pull that out and play in the dining room."

"How do you play chess?"

"I'll teach you. Meet you in the dining room. I'll get the chess set."

Link hobbled through the kitchen, past the island, and into the dining room. It wasn't a big room, like the dining halls of castles and palaces, but it was really pretty. The wall across the kitchen was like a huge bay window but from ceiling to floor and with a glass door that opened up to a patio with the same shale tiling as both the kitchen and the dining room. The dining table was small and round, large enough to comfortably seat four people, but it'd never fit more than six.

There were two depressions on either side of the entrance. In one there was a large cabinet with an assortments of fancy plates, silverware, and both cloth and paper napkins, along with a condiment tray. In the other was a large potted ivy plant hanging from the ceiling, with its long vines growing all the way to the floor. The plant, combined with the great big windows, make the room refreshing and bright.

Link sat down in the chair facing the cabinet, putting his crutches down on the seat closest to the door, and looked out the window at the patio. He watched little birds fly around a bird feeder near the edges of the patio and rest on the patio furniture. There were even more potted plants against the wooden fence. Link noticed all of the plants were hardy enough to survive a cold winter, perennials, or both, and wondered if it snowed in Gotham.

"Found it," Ed said triumphantly, holding up a plastic ziplock bag full of wooden pieces and a square wooden board with a checkered pattern. He sat down across of Link, put the board on the table, the pieces on the remaining chair, and then squinted at the board, deep in thought, before rotating it ninety degrees. "I'll set it up."

Ed then went on to explain where each of the pieces went and how they could move around the board. Link didn't understand why the castles were called rooks when they shared no resemblance to the bird, and he adamantly refused to call the horses anything but, no matter how many times Ed insisted they were called knights. After Link tenth question, 'why do the horses move like that? That's silly.', Ed told him to just follow the rules and don't ask why they're there in the first place.

The first game, Link opened with his knights and then a pawn and Ed won in four moves, to which Link said he wasn't being fair and he made Ed promise not to beat him in four moves again. The second game Ed won in five turns to the same blunder. The third, Link took so long to make his moves Ed got so impatient he threatened to leave and go read a book or something.

After that, Link started to get the hang of it, and four hours and ten games later, the game finally clicked for him and he won their eleventh game. Then he won again, and then a third time, until the tables had turned and now it was Link who was winning every game instead of Ed.

Around Link's seventh win in a row, Gordon came out of his room where he'd been working and checked on them.

"I'm going to make dinner, you boys hungry?"

"Oh, yes, please!" Link answered happily.

Gordon smiled at him, happy to see Link more at home. "What about you, Edward?"

Ed grunted when he heard his name, but didn't take his eyes of the board. What was a winning streak for Link was a losing streak for him, and he was determined not to let Link win an eighth time in a row. Sure, he liked that Link was getting better, it made their games more challenging and more fun, but he didn't mean for him to get that much better so quickly.

"Edward?" Gordon repeated.

"Hm, what?" Ed finally snapped out of it.

"Dinner," Gordon said. "You hungry?"

"Yeah," Ed said quickly and then went back to the board.

"Intense game?" Gordon asked.

"I think I'm being hustled," Ed groaned. "He said he didn't even know how to play, and now I can't beat him."

"Haha, you admit defeat!" Link laughed.

Ed groaned again, made the best move he could make, and then visibly slumped when Link checkmated him for the eighth time in a row. Ed let out an exasperated sigh. "I didn't mean to teach him to play this well."

"Alright, boys. I'm making meatballs. You probably have time for about one or two more games."

"No," Ed said. "I'm done. I'm tired of losing."

"Aw, but I wanna keep playing," Link complained.

"How about you and I play a game while the oven's preheating? It takes about half an hour," Gordon suggested.

Link frowned, and gave the idea some thought. After mulling it over, he nodded hesitantly. "Okay," he said.

"Oh, now this I have to see," Ed snorted.

Ed moved Link's crutches and sat in the chair facing the kitchen and Link set the board back up. Gordon set the oven to preheat to 400, put the sauce to simmer on the stove, and returned, sitting across from Link. Neither he nor Ed failed to notice how Link grew more nervous when Gordon sat down. Ed shifted angrily in response, daring Gordon to give Link a real reason to be scared of him.

If Link noticed Ed's slight change in behavior, he didn't show it, but it did nothing to ease his nerves. If anything, it was only validating his fear, but Gordon decided not to point it out. He remained calm and nonthreatening.

He made the first move, and Link mimicked it. The opening game wasn't anything noteworthy or special. As openings went, it was average. Link lost a bishop, but he traded it for Gordon's knight after Gordon failed to notice Link's knight hiding on the edge of the board. A few pawns were traded or sacrificed, but Link was only slightly better off by the midgame. It was still anyone's game.

They took a short break when the oven beeped and Gordon left to cook the meatballs.

The rest of the game went very well for Link, despite the fact that Gordon was not holding back. He knew Link wouldn't enjoy a false win. It would be all the sweeter if he truly earned it. Though he honestly hadn't expected Link to be a prodigy in the game. As they neared the end game, things were not looking good for Gordon. He had to lean back in mild surprise when he realized Link had checkmate in three moves, and there was nothing he could do about it.

On closer inspection and reviewing the last few moves that lead him up to this point, he also realized he'd been played like a book. Link had been planning this as soon as he'd gotten a feel on Gordon's usual strategy. Link adjusted his own strategy accordingly and subtly. Gordon hadn't even noticed he'd all but lost mid game until the end was in three moves. And Gordon was an experienced player.

Two turns later, all three of them knew Link had won. Link reached for his final pawn, ready to make the final strike and declare checkmate. His hand hovered over the pawn and he glanced up at Gordon, who was grimacing at the pawn, knowing his defeat. Link moved his king instead.

At first, with Link's subtle strategy, Gordon thought he'd missed something and double and triple checked that moving the pawn would have resulted in a checkmate and not a simple check. But it didn't. Link had thrown the game, practically forfeited last second, moving his king out in the open in surrender.

"Link, what are you doing?" Ed hissed at him. "You practically won."

"I… I dunno," Link mumbled sheepishly. His face turned bright red and he shrank in his seat, leaning away from Gordon and looking down at his knees, ashamed or cowing, Gordon couldn't tell which.

Gordon could do one of two things, ignore Link's deliberate surrender and move the king back, or he could take the bait and checkmate, winning the game. It was a simple game of chess, but winning or losing wasn't the only thing in the balance.

Gordon, as stoic as ever, moved Link's king back where it was and said, "Make your real move, son."

Timidly, Link reached out and, with a single finger, gently pushed the pawn forward one space. "Checkmate," he whispered.

"Well," Gordon said, getting up. "That was fun." He checked the timer on the oven just as it beeped, "and just in time, too. Why don't you two put the board away and set the table?"

"Okay," Link said, still whispering.

He began putting the pieces back into the plastic bag and Ed went to get the silverware from the cabinet. While Gordon was readying the meatballs, he thought about Link's surrender in the last move. He didn't think it would bother him, but the doctor concluding that Link was likely brutalized by a past caregiver was starting to eat at him.

He tried to tell himself that he didn't need to know. He just had to be kind, gentle, and loving and Link would tell him when he was ready. But Gordon was starting to worry that Link would never be ready. That a big part of him would always be afraid of Gordon, no matter how he tried to convince Link he would never hurt him.

He hadn't been afraid the first night. But as time progressed, Link became more and more afraid of him. Gordon wondered if it was because of Ed directing his resentment for his own father onto Gordon. His anger could be unintentionally signaling to Link that Gordon was a genuine threat, and the longer he rebelled like the angry, untrusting teenager that he was, the more and more danger Link interpreted.

Now that he had a theory on what was going on, he'd have to talk to them about it. The last thing he wanted was for Link to be anxious whenever Gordon was in the room. He knew Link trusted Ed and was comfortable around him. He decided after diner he'd talk to Ed alone about his theory on Link's submissive behavior.

"Edward, help me bring these in," Gordon called.

Ed paused, considering telling Gordon to 'make him', or something with the same idea but with much cruder vocabulary. But, eventually he sighed and said, "Fine."

"Edward, after diner, I'd like to talk to you in private," Gordon said when Ed came to get the plates.

"Why?"

"It's about Link," Gordon said.

"What about him?"

"We'll talk about it after diner, alright?"

Ed glared at him, but still said, "Fine. Whatever," and grabbed his plate.

"That smells really good!" Link said enthusiastically when Gordon brought him his plate, the hearty smell of cooked, seasoned meat wafting away his previous discomfort.

"Glad you think so. That reminds me, Barbara's coming over tomorrow at twelve for lunch to meet you two."

Ed grunted in acknowledgment, and Link let it speak for both of them.

They ate in silence for a few minutes after that, and then Gordon forced a subject that he'd have to get around to eventually, and he'd rather he tell them both at the same time. "So, I enrolled you both in school."

"What?" Ed snarled, practically slamming his fork on the table. Link flinched, but Ed didn't notice.

"Edward, I know you'll be older than the other kids in your class, but since you don't have any school records, they wouldn't let me enroll you as a sophomore. Freshman orientation is on the twenty-seventh…"

"That's in two weeks!" Ed shouted, raising his hands in frustration and anger.

"We'll have to buy you a uniform…"

"Oh, well this just keeps getting better, doesn't it?" Ed snapped. "I'm not going to some snotty rich kid school."

"Class starts on the second. And Link, you start on the ninth, which is a month from now. I've enrolled you in the fifth grade. You'll also need a uniform."

"Are you even listening to me? I said I'm not going to school!"

"Edward, if you don't go to school, I'll have to homeschool you, and we both know that's never going to work…"

"Why would you have to home school me? I'm fine on my own."

"It's state law that you must have at least a high school level education. If you don't go to school and I don't give you one, Phetchet will have legal grounds to remove you and Link from my custody."

"What? But… you said that was over!"

"It is, but there are still things out of both of our control. She'd still have legal grounds even if you were my biological son or you were never in the federal foster care system."

"That's not fair! I'm ten times smarter than her, at least. I don't need a 'high school level education' when I'm already more educated than most college graduates! How many languages do you speak, because I speak three! English, Latin, and Greek!"

"I'm sure you don't need it, but you still have to have one."

"Um," Link swallowed nervously. He'd stopped eating his food the moment Ed became upset. "I'm not hungry anymore. Can I go to bed?"

"You didn't finish your food," Gordon pointed out, worried Link would go to bed hungry.

Link however, interpreted it as anger and mumbled an apology, his face turning pale.

"Alright," Gordon sighed. "We'll take your plate up. You know where your room is?"

Link nodded. He grabbed his crutches and hobbled out of the dining room like it was on fire. Ed was about to get up and follow him, also without finishing his diner, but Gordon stopped him.

"We need to have that talk," he said grimly.

Ed look back after Link, but sat back down. "What?" He said vehemently, continuing to eat.

"It's about your attitude."

"What, you're gonna lecture me on bad behavior now? I don't care how many papers you've signed, you're not my father and you sure as hell aren't the boss of me."

"I don't give a rat's ass how much you want to hate me, but you have to stop acting aggressive in front of Link. I think he's interpreting it as you thinking I'm a threat. He trusts your judgement more than he trusts his own. And if he thinks you think I'm dangerous, he'll be convinced I am."

"You're… you're not dangerous," Ed stammered. "He… he's just shy."

"While I don't doubt that, he wasn't afraid of me the first night. He even asked me to stay in the room and protect him while you two slept. The only difference between then and now is two weeks of you acting defensive every time I enter the room. He thinks you're defending him from me."

"Well, I kinda am," Ed admitted sheepishly. "Not because I think you're a threat or anything. I could take you with my eyes closed."

"I'm sure you could," Gordon sighed in amusement. "I don't care if either of you like me. What I'm most concerned about is how stressed its making Link. He doesn't deserve to be scared all the time, especially when he has nothing to fear."

"I… I'll go talk to him. I guess… I guess I forgot he's not Al."

"Al?"

"My… I mean, I don't want to say real brother, but… he is. Not that Link isn't. I just… Al and I grew up together. He knows me better than anyone. Hell, he'd tell me I'm being bullheaded and unreasonable. He'd be pretty pissed at me, actually. Link just… he reminds me of Al sometimes and I forget he hasn't known me for that long. He can't tell the difference between me thinking someone's a threat or a nuisance."

"Well, I'm glad to know where I stand in your book," Gordon couldn't help but chuckle. "You done?" Gordon asked, gesturing to Ed's mostly empty plate.

"Hm? Oh, yeah."

"I'll clean up, you go talk to Link. And make sure he brushes his teeth."

"Uhgh," Ed groaned.

"And I'd like to think your old enough that I don't have to remind you to brush your teeth," Gordon added with a cheeky smirk.

"Uhgh!" Ed groaned even louder, and quickly left before Gordon could tell him not to forget to wash behind his ears as well.

* * *

When Ed opened the door to their room, he found Link sitting on the floor between the two beds, leaning on the dresser, his good knee to his chest and his head in his arms, or, more accurately, his arm brace and cast. Ed sat down next to him with a sigh, pulling up one of his own knees and resting his elbow on it.

"What's the matter, kid?"

"Don't know which bed is mine and I didn't want to sleep in yours," Link mumbled. But he'd been crying, and Ed knew that couldn't be the reason.

"You can pick a bed, don't worry," Ed reassured him. "What's really the matter?"

"Why are you so mean to him?" Link asked, sniffling. "He's supposed to be nice. I… I thought he was a good guy."

Ed sighed when he realized there could be truth in the old man's worrying. "Why… why do you think I'm being mean to him?" Ed asked. "It's not a trick question or anything. I just want to know."

"Well… um…" Link mumbled. "I dunno. I just… I thought maybe you know something I don't, s'pose."

Ed let out a deep sigh. "Dammit, kid," he said. "Uhgh, I've made a mess."

"I'm sorry."

"No, don't apologize. You did nothing wrong. I'm the one who's sorry. I didn't consider how you'd react to me not… immediately… warming up to someone. You didn't seem to have this problem with the Doctor."

"Well, yeah, but then he abandoned us. And you didn't like him either, so… I figured it was 'cause you knew something I didn't."

"Link, if I'm being honest, I'm horrible at making friends, especially with adults. Always think they know better," he grumbled. "Making us go to school when they know damn well I'm smarter than everyone on staff."

"Ed," Link frowned.

"Sorry, got off track there. Point is, I don't know something you don't, kid. There isn't some dark conspiracy I'm in on and not telling you about. Believe me, you'd be the first I'd tell if I knew about one of those." Ed sighed. "Gordon is one of the good guys. He wouldn't hurt us. He's just annoying me, that's all. He's not gonna get mad and hurt you or anything."

"Oh," Link sniffled. "I guess… I guess was wrong then."

"I'm sorry I made you think he'd hurt us," Ed said. He reached over and gently messed with Link's hair.

"It's okay. I'm glad I was wrong."

"Technically you were right, since you're the one who thinks he's nice."

"Did you just admit you were wrong?" Link gasped.

"No," Ed snapped. "No, I said you were right about something I didn't disagree with. That doesn't make me wrong. It's not a competition."

"Does this mean you'll stop being mean to him all the time?"

"I didn't say that, either," Ed grumped. "Come on, you gotta brush your teeth before bed."

"No," Link pouted. "I don't wanna. I'm too tired."

"Come on. Up we go," Ed pulled Link to his feet and grabbed his crutches.

"No, it's too hard," Link complained.

"Yeah, well it's even harder to have to go to the dentist every few months for the rest of your life 'cause your teeth fell out 'cause you didn't brush them."

"But last time my teeth fell out they grew back," Link grumbled.

"Those were your baby teeth, there supposed to do that, dummy," Ed teased him.

"Oh. None of the other kids lost their teeth."

"Were they human?"

"Well, no…I guess not…"

"Then they probably weren't supposed to lose their teeth in the first place."

"Oh. Can I brush in the morning? I'm tired."

"You gotta brush in the morning and at night," Ed said. "I'll do it with you, alright?"

"Fine," Link pouted.

And finally, Link could relax.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	20. Sister from Another Mister

**Chapter 20**

 **Sister From Another Mister**

* * *

Ed was still asleep at twelve, but Link wasn't. While Link had found it relatively easy to go to sleep knowing that Ed was between him and the door. And Gordon, a man from whom he had nothing to fear, was just a room over with a gun, ready to protect him, he woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep. He figured it was a combination of restlessness and the fact that, other than the hospital, he hadn't slept in a bed in what felt like years. It was too soft.

So, instead of staring up at the ceiling and listening to Ed snore like an old dog, Link put on his glasses, adjusted them until the nose pads weren't digging into his nose quite so much, grabbed his crutches from the foot of his bed, took out a pen and his Bomber's Notebook, and hobbled into the living room. It wasn't easy to scribble with a brace on his arm, but it passed the time. He tried to use his imagination at first, but he found himself idly doodling Kokiri Forest and the Lost Woods. While it hadn't been the plan, it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would.

Until he started to draw Saria, and to his horror, forgot what her face looked like. It had only been a few years, but all he could remember was that her smile made him feel safe and her hair was the most vibrant shade of green in the while forest. He couldn't remember the color or shape of her eyes, if they were green or blue, what her nose looked like, or her chin. He didn't want to draw his dear friend with only a mouth, so he left her face blank.

After Saria, he tried to draw some of the other sages, but to his despair, all he had to show for it were seven bodies and only one face. It wasn't even Zelda's, it was Nabooru. The only other faces he could recall that didn't also show up in Termina were those of Ganondorf and the Twinrova, and he didn't want to draw them. He was already restless enough at night, he didn't want to reintroduce their faces to his nightmares.

The next hour he dedicated to drawing Epona, a few cows, and some dogs. Link wondered if Gordon would let him have a dog. He vaguely recalled Malon telling him that kids asked their parents for various pets all the time, like puppies or kittens or ponies. A lot of the older, gentler horses at the ranch went to rich families with children begging for a pony.

Link was just about to seriously consider asking for a puppy, when Gordon walked out of his room, rubbing his forehead and grumbling something about coffee. Link didn't say anything, he looked so grumpy. He had to convince himself Gordon was upset with how early it was and not him. It took Gordon another ten minutes to notice Link, when he came back out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee to watch the news.

"How long have you been up?"

"'Bout an hour 'n a half," Link mumbled.

"That long, huh? What woke you?" Gordon asked, sitting down next to Link and putting his coffee on the coffee table. He was happy to see that Link wasn't afraid of him anymore. "Bad dream?"

Link shook his head. "Woke up and I wasn't tired anymore. Ed snores."

"Sorry the house isn't big enough for you both to have separate rooms. When I bought it, it was just Barbara and me."

"It's okay. I like sharing a room with Ed. If anything tried to get me, it'll have to get through him first. And he yells so much it'd wake me up before anything bad happened."

"If anything got in trying to hurt either of you, it'd have to go through me, which is not an easy task," Gordon chuckled. "What have you got there?"

"Just some doodles," Link mumbled.

"Can I see?"

Link shook his head and hugged the notebook to his chest.

"I'm going to watch the news, it might not be pretty," Gordon said, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV.

He flipped the channel to world news and the two of them watched in silence as a British woman shouted over a hailstorm while a giant green, shapeshifting alien fought a gorilla that was throwing cars around.

"Is that normal?" Link asked.

"Unfortunately," Gordon grunted. "It didn't used to be, but over the last decade or so, stranger things have happened, and not just in Gotham. Take it you don't have things like that where your from?"

"Which one's the good guy?"

"Green one."

"How can you tell?"

"He's a Leaguer. That's about all I know about him, though. Might not be a 'him' either, with all that shapeshifting going on."

"I'm hungry," Link whispered, only just loud enough for Gordon to hear.

"Alright," Gordon got up immediately. "There's nothing on the news I need to see that I won't hear about first. Come on, let's get you breakfast."

Enthusiastically, Link followed Gordon into the kitchen like a wobbly little duckling. Gordon helped him onto the island stool when he struggled to hop up on to it without fumbling over his casts and crutches.

"I got eggs," Gordon said, rummaging through his fridge. "You like scrambled, over easy? The only cereal I've got is oatmeal and Raisin Bran."

"A… anything is fine," Link stammered.

"You know what? Since this is you're first morning here, I'm going to make pancakes for breakfast. How's that sound? You like pancakes?"

"Pancakes?" Link tilted his head inquisitively. "Is that like cake?"

"I… well… yes and no," Gordon hesitated. He hadn't expected Link to not know about pancakes. "They're hard to describe. I'll make you some." He went about grabbing all the ingredients he'd need, putting a pan on the stove, and overall busying himself with the preparation of breakfast.

"Usually I have to make my own food," Link said quietly.

Gordon didn't know how to respond to that. After a moment of thought, he asked, "How long has that been going on?"

"I dunno," Link shrugged, resting his chin on his arms. "Long as I can remember, I s'pose."

"Someone must have taken care of you when you were very little?"

Link shrugged again. "Must've. Don't remember that, though."

"What about Edward?"

Link shrugged again. "There was always something going on. Ed was pretty preoccupied trying to get home. I didn't want to bother him. I could take care of myself. Not so much right now… but… I dunno. I'm used to it, I guess."

Gordon wanted to say something about how horrible it was for a ten year old to be used to fending for himself, to being all alone with no family to take care of him, but he couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't possibly hurt Link. So, instead, he said, "Do you want milk or juice?"

"Milk please!" Link lit up when Gordon mentioned milk.

"I see you don't share Edward's distaste for milk," Gordon chuckled. He slid Link a glass of milk and peeled a tangerine for him. "Here, to tide you over 'till the pancakes are done."

"Thank you," Link said between chugs of his milk. He finished the whole glass in a few gulps.

"Like it?" Gordon laughed. "Slow down, son. You might choke."

"Sorry," Link mumbled sheepishly.

"It's alright. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

Gordon continued making the pancake batter, and, much to his pleasure, Link continued to talk to him. They talked about little things. Gordon tried not to poke around the bush too much. After all, a bird in the hand was worth more than two startled birds in the bush, and he didn't want to accidentally scare Link back into submissive silence.

Link loved the pancakes. Gordon had to stop him from drowning his second one in maple syrup, but other than that, their breakfast was full of breakthroughs. Link was growing less and less shy around him. Now all he had to do was find a way through Ed's hostility, and the three of them'd be happy as clams.

* * *

The rest of the morning flew by. Gordon didn't have to go to work until late that afternoon, so he was free to spend time with Link. Mostly explaining how to work the TV so that when he did have to go to work, the boys wouldn't be left to their own devises. He hated to give them the means to waste time in front of the a box, but was less worried when Link showed much more interest in nature documentaries than he did mindless cartoons.

Unfortunately, Gordon wasn't the best with new technology, and it was Barbara who'd installed most of the TV workings. He really only knew how to turn on the news and Netflix, and even then, he had trouble figuring out how to turn on the parental controls to keep Link from watching anything a ten year old shouldn't be watching. Not that he thought Link could be that much more traumatized by the violence on TV. He'd suffered things that were banned from television.

Link was content with his documentaries, however, and had shown disgust towards the more violent and graphic shows. Gordon would have preferred that his reasoning towards the aversion wasn't that he'd 'already lived through enough of that bull', a phrase he'd no doubt picked up from Ed. Gordon considered having another talk with Ed about using foul language around Link, but he didn't think enough time had passed since their last talk and Ed would just accuse him of nagging and nitpicking.

The two of them were still trying to figure out how to turn on Hulu without also turning off the TV when the doorbell rang. And then rang again seven more times.

"Is it twelve already?" Gordon said, checking his watch. "That must Barb. She must have lost her keys."

Link watched from a distance as he answered the door. Since the front entrance was in view of the living room, all he had to do was peak over the side of the sofa. The young woman who entered was not what Link had been expecting. She had brought red hair, brighter even than Malon's, or, by virtue of parallel worlds, Cremia or Romani's. She had glasses, just like her father. Link wondered if Gordon's hair had been that bright before it started to dull and whiten with age.

Of course, neither of these were the things that startled Link. He could have guessed Gordon's original hair color and the glasses weren't a stretch. What startled him was the wheelchair. He tried not to stare at it, like he tried not to stare at Ed's arm or leg, but he wasn't quite used to it. And it wasn't the fact that she needed the wheelchair that was what caught his attention, either. It was the fact that it had wheels.

Sure, Anju's grandmother's chair had wheels on it. But Link had hardly noticed with how stationary the crotchety, incredibly old woman was. And he'd spent an entire, sleepless night listening to her babble on and on about what, he couldn't quite remember. He'd fallen asleep the moment she'd awarded him for being so attentive.

"This must be my new little brother!" Barbara wheeled over to the living room, followed closely by her father, who looked like he was trying his best not to push the chair himself.

Link ducked behind the sofa arm the moment she directed her attention to him. Her hair reminded him of Malon, and that made him sad. Plus, he didn't technically know her, and that made him nervous.

"I won't bite," Barbara laughed in good nature.

Link shook his head and hid behind a pillow.

"You'll have to forgive him, Barb. He's very shy," Gordon said. "Link, we'll be in the kitchen warming up Barbara's chicken for lunch. Call if you need us, alright?"

Link just nodded into the pillow. They went into the kitchen, where the two started preparing lunch. Link could hear them talking, and, while he knew he shouldn't eavesdrop, he didn't quite know how to turn Planet Earth back on, so there wasn't much else for him to do, anyway.

"Where's Edward?"

"Still asleep, I hope."

"Really? It's past twelve."

"He's been staying up all night and waking up at the crack of dawn with Link in the hospital. This is probably the first night all month he's gone to bed relaxed. And you know how teenagers sleep. You'd sleep until five in the afternoon if I didn't wake you."

"Ha, yeah. I remember that," Barbara laughed.

"I'd wake him now, but he might just bite my head off," Gordon half joked. It was entirely possible for Ed to lash out if woken by someone he didn't like. And the only person on this planet he liked was Link.

Fortunately, Link didn't have to offer his services, because Ed staggered out the their bedroom, half asleep and glaring at everything, only to disappear into the bathroom a second later, change of clothes under one arm.

"Link, was that Edward?" Gordon asked when he heard doors opening and closing.

"Yeah," Link answered. "Well, his gibdo, at least," he muttered to himself, pleased with his joke but nowhere near confident enough to say it loud enough for anyone else to hear it. Plus, he didn't know if they knew what a gibdo was.

About fifteen minutes later, Ed reemerged in his regular clothes and with wet hair. Link considered saying good morning but it was almost twelve thirty; morning had long since ended. Instead, he watched Ed walk into the kitchen and unintentionally meet Barbara. Link wondered if he could consider her his sister or not. He didn't think Ed would like that, though, so he dismissed it.

"Hi," Barbara said, holding out her hand to shake his.

Ed glared at her for a moment, trying to figure out where she'd come from. Then he grabbed a slice of bread from the bread box and grunted angrily at her.

"Well, you certainly are friendly," Barbara brushed off his hostility as easily as if he'd said something funny.

"Don't patronize me," Ed snarled, leaving for his room.

"There's chicken if you want any," Gordon offered.

Ed stopped to glare at him as well. "What's the catch?"

"You'll have to stay out here to eat it."

Ed considered it, but decided he'd rather not be in the same room as Gordon anymore and returned to his own room.

"He's upset about having to go to school," Gordon sighed. "I don't think he wants to forgive me for that."

"You didn't tell him first?"

"I figured he'd say no and I'd rather have him object after he couldn't say no than have to sign him up after he'd refused."

"School can feel like a hassle, especially high school. He'll forgive you eventually, Dad. You're the best dad I know."

"Well I'm glad someone thinks so."

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	21. I Don't Need no Education

**Chapter 21**

 **I Don't Need No Education**

* * *

A few of the many, many things Ed hated were uniforms, schools, and waking up in the morning. So it wasn't hard to imagine how pissed he was when Gordon pulled his pillow out from under him at nine o'clock in the morning on the twenty-seventh.

"Rise and shine, orientation is in three hours," Gordon said cheerfully, drawing back the blinds and shining sunlight into the room.

Ed groaned and pulled the covers over his head. "Go away!" He complained.

"If you can manage to drag yourself out of bed, you might be able to get some bacon and eggs before Link eats it all," Gordon tempted.

"Nooooo," he sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"See you in the kitchen," Gordon said as he left the room.

"Close the door," Ed called after him. Gordon left the door ajar and Ed groaned in annoyance, rolling out of his bed to close the door all the way and grab his pillow from the chair.

Ten minutes later, Ed staggered into the kitchen like a half asleep zombie. Link was happily munching on a crispy slice of bacon, but he still tried to say good morning.

"When did you get up?" Ed asked, pulling himself onto one of the chairs around the island.

"Four hours ago," Link said, swallowing his bacon. "No one was awake yet."

"Really? You woke up at five in the morning? How?"

Link shrugged. "I woke up and I wasn't sleepy anymore."

"Witchcraft," Ed mumbled, resting his face on his hand and closing his eyes.

"Edward, how about you save your nap for orientation," Gordon put a plate of eggs and bacon on the counter in front of Ed, letting the ceramic clatter against the marble countertop.

Ed snapped awake and grumbled something profane under his breath, but he readily ate the food presented to him. "Why'd you wake me up so early? Thought orientation was at twelve."

"It'll take about forty five minutes to get there."

"I have to sit in a car with you for forty five minutes?" Ed groaned. "As if school wasn't bad enough."

"Would you rather walk? That'll take about four hours," Gordon snapped, dangerously close to losing his temper. "Or maybe you'd prefer I didn't give a shit and let you sleep through school and give Phetchet a good reason to send you to military school and Link to Metropolis. Would that be preferable‽"

That both shut Ed up and made Link cower. Gordon cursed himself for frightening Link, after all the effort he'd put in making Link feel comfortable. He'd like to be petty and blame Ed's hostility, but it took two to tango and he'd taken Ed's bait. Of course, Ed hadn't expected him to bite so hard. He was trying to put up with Ed's moods, but after a month, it was starting to get tiring, and not being able to raise his voice even a little without setting Link off was making it even harder to get through Ed's thick skull.

"I'm sorry, boys," Gordon sighed. "I didn't mean to snap at you."

Ed grunted, but he didn't look up from his eggs. Link fidgeted. Gordon sighed again, deeper this time, and left for his room, careful not to slam the door behind him.

"Why do you always make him mad?" Link asked quietly. "What if… what if he stops wanting us and sends us away for real?"

"Who cares if that asshole wants us?" Ed snapped. "It's not like I want to be here!"

"I do," Link whispered.

"Why?" Ed snapped. "It's not like he's our dad."

"Well, no, but…"

"Then why do you care?"

"Because I've never had a dad before!" Link snapped. He looked down and his knees and mumbled, "He the closest thing I've ever had to a real parent."

Ed look at his surrogate little brother and his heart clenched when he saw Link wipe a tear from his face. "Some big brother I am," Ed sighed.

"Well, you wouldn't be so bad if you weren't so self absorbed all the time," Link said, wiping his eyes and smirking playfully.

"Wow, way to sugar coat it, little brother," Ed laughed.

"Sorry, but you are," Link giggled.

"Yeah, I know, but do you have to tell me about it?"

"I thought you liked hearing about yourself?"

"Okay, now you're just being cruel," Ed teased, ruffling Link's hair.

Link giggled some more and leaned into Ed's hand. The sound of his giggling was like music from heaven. It gave hope that there was still a child underneath all of that pain, fear, and sadness.

Gordon walked back into the kitchen, both cooled off from his outburst and also clean of his morning stubble. "Edward, you'd better get ready, we're leaving in an hour."

"Pft," Ed scoffed. "How long do you think it takes me to get ready, anyway?"

"I don't know, that's why I gave you an hour."

* * *

At first, Ed didn't want to leave Link alone, but when Gordon offered to find a babysitter, Ed shut up. Link wouldn't get any better if Ed treated him like a helpless little child. Link could survive on his own for a few hours. He should be worried about himself and how he was going to survive freshman orientation without biting someone's head off.

"Now, Edward, if you feel like punching someone, I want to take three deep breaths and not do that. I'd hate to have to arrest you," Gordon said jokingly when he noticed Ed glaring out the window at the high school as if he could set it on fire if he could just willed it hard enough.

"Bite me, old man," Ed snapped.

"Lovely," Gordon grumbled.

"Hey, Link's not here, I can rebel as much as I feel like."

"Which is a lot, apparently."

"Don't act like you're surprised. You blackmailed me into this. I have a right to get even."

"I'll be sure to watch my back," Gordon sighed. "And my doors," he laughed when he remembered the caricature Ed left on the hospital door. "Alright, I'll be back at three thirty. And if it makes you feel better, I think there's free pizza."

"That doesn't make me feel better," Ed grumbled.

"Oh, and before I forget," Gordon reached into his pocket and pulled out a small flip phone. "My number's already on speed dial. Do you know how to use one of these?"

"I know how a phone works," Ed grabbed the phone.

"Alright. Then how about you call me and we see if it works?"

Ed paused, fidgeting with the flip phone in hand. He opened it and stared at the screen for a good few minutes. "Uh, well, I know how to dial on a pay phone or a home phone… circa 1915…"

"Here, I'll show you how to speed dial," Gordon reached for the phone to demonstrate, but Ed pulled away from him. "Look, I don't care if you want to teach yourself, I need to know you can get a hold of me if you need to before I go, alright?"

"I won't need to get a hold of you because I don't need you at all in the first place," Ed snarled. "And if you're so worried, then you can call me. I know how to answer a phone."

"Edward, I'm starting to get tired of this," Gordon sighed.

"What're you gonna do about it?" Ed snapped. "Hit me?"

"Don't tempt me," Gordon snarled, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

Ed recoiled. He hadn't expected that reaction.

Gordon sighed, rubbing his face in exasperation. "Edward, I'm a busy man and I'm not as young as I used to be. It's difficult to put up with you and everything that goes on in the GCPD. Look… let's just… talk about this after I pick you up from orientation."

"Fine, whatever," Ed pocketed the phone, got out of the car, and slammed the door hard enough to send vibrations through the windshield.

"I'll be back at three," Gordon called after Ed as he stalked off towards the gym, where a huge flyer hung reading 'Welcome Freshmen!' in big black letters. Ed popped a balloon on his way up the steps. Gordon figured it was better than popping someone's head, and drove to work.

Ed, on the other hand, was wishing he could pop someone's head. But the thought brought back the image of the man Black Mask had shot in the face and he quickly brushed both thought and image aside before it overtook him.

The inside of the gym was just as decorated as the outside, with a large section of chairs in the middle facing the stage across from the entrance, with tables for clubs and special subject electives. None of the booths were manned yet, and since Ed was ten minutes early, most of the seats were empty. Ed chose to sit in the back, where he had no obligation to have a good time.

He looked around at the booths while he waited for orientation to start, and was amused by the Batman and Robin fan clubs. They were two separate clubs. He also tried to not be interested in the science club, but it had caught his eye. Who ever had made the sign switched scandium and yttrium on their giant, handmade element table. Ed considered discreetly switching the two before orientation started so it wouldn't bother him for the next three hours, but a boy in the front noticed him sitting in the back and took it upon himself to be friendly before Ed could do anything.

He got out of his front row seat and practically skipped over and sat right next to Ed. Since Ed didn't want to move and he was here first, he decided to politely make small talk with the other boy and hope he'd go away.

"Hi, I'm Tim Drake," the boy held out his hand.

Something about him was familiar, but Ed couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Hi," Ed grunted. He changed his mind. Small talk was for losers. He didn't take Tim up on his attempt at a hand shake.

"Aw, come on, you're not gonna leave me hanging, are ya?" He grinned like an idiot, and like an idiot, he refused to take a hint.

"Of course I am," Ed snapped, sarcastically mirroring Tim's dorky grin and then settled back onto his grumpy slouch, crossing his arms.

Finally, Tim stopped his infuriating smiling. Before either of them could say something they'd both regret, orientation started. It started with an obnoxious scripted conversation between the student body president, a perky girl whom Ed was perfectly fine stereotyping as a ditzy airhead, and her VP, a boy who was almost as ungodly energetic and carefree as she was. Both were seniors, by the looks of it. Ed ignored them and instead tried to think of other things to distract himself with while he waited for three o'clock so he could leave. Things other than the botched periodic table.

He almost completely missed it when the two of them announced the implementation of a new, experimental buddy system the school was trying. Juniors and seniors volunteered to be a big brother or sister to one or two freshman, and they'd help the freshmen get through their first year of high school. At first, Ed didn't think anything of it, it'd just be another thing for him to add to the ignore pile. But then, after everyone else had been told who their 'buddy' was, the VP announced both Ed and Tim had to same 'big brother', the VP himself, Jason Todd.

Ed sighed in anger and slouched even further in his seat. He was stuck with two of the first students he decided to hate. He was so upset, he hardly noticed that Tim, too, was more than a little perturbed.

"Ugh, no fair," Tim grumbled. "I gotta live with him and he's my school babysitter. Bogus."

"Bogus?" Ed snorted. "What era are you from, Peewee?"

"Oh, shut up. In case you weren't paying attention, we have the same senior because we have the same schedule."

"Peachy."

While everyone else went off to get a tour of the school and a walk through of their schedule from their assigned buddy, Jason sauntered over to the two of them and immediately began pestering Tim.

"Hey, bro! Didn't I tell you about this?"

"No," Tim pouted. "First I've heard of it."

"Weird, I told Bruce and Alfred and Dick and…"

"Okay, okay, I get it."

"Come on, let's check out this schedule of yours! How many honors classes are you signed you up for?"

"Do we really have the same schedule?" Ed complained. Not that he didn't think he could handle honors classes, he just didn't want to have to deal with all the extra work. And Gordon had failed to mention he'd signed Ed up for honors classes.

"You bet!" Jason smiled.

Ed decided he wanted to strangle Jason Todd. "Someone kill me," Ed groaned, putting his elbows on his knees and his head in his palms. "Or better yet! Someone kill you."

"There have been a few who've tried," Jason laughed. "No one can kill Jason Todd!"

"Is there a test I can pass to get out of this?"

"No, there is not. First class is…" Jason pulled a sheet out of one of his pockets and held it up for all three of them to look at. "P.E.," Even Jason grimaced. "Ouch."

Ed wondered if he could at least get out of P.E. because of his automail, but it's not like he was any worse off than the other kids. He could handle it, he just didn't want to. On one hand, it sounded hellish, but on the other, he didn't think taking advantage of his disability by milking it would be the right thing to do. But in the end, he decided to ask Gordon about getting a doctor's note. Skipping his first class also meant he could sleep longer, and that was the deal breaker.

"Homeroom with Mrs. Yakely. Another ouch. She is strict as hell. Oh, but she's also the bio teacher and you have honors bio right after homeroom, lucky you! You don't even have to go anywhere."

"Huh," Ed laughed. "Doubt she's as strict as my old teacher." Plus, Ed didn't think it was legal to throw an eight year old across the room while drilling them on the periodic table, here or Amestris. At least it was effective.

"Then Honors Algebra 2…"

"Oh my god, algebra's baby math," Ed bemoaned his bad luck. "I should be in pre-calculus, at least."

"Well, there's noting I can do about that. At least you have lunch after that. Then English 9, World History, Honors Spanish, and Freshman Studies. Those are all in the same building. How did you two get so lucky. All your classes are next to each other, perfect for minimal walking."

"Oh joy, I don't have to walk an extra minute between pointless classes," Ed snapped.

"Hey, now. An education is never pointless," Jason snapped back, a lot more seriously than Ed had expected.

"It is if it's a waste of my time! I can teach myself more in a week than any of these assholes could learn in a decade!"

"Then passing should be easy enough, don't you think?"

Ed was about to shout something about how every second he wasted in this pathetic school was a second he could have spent getting closer to finding a way home, back to friends and family, where he belonged. But that was a rabbit hole he didn't want to go down with two strangers.

The rest of orientation went just as well as Ed expected. He was bored out of his mind following Jason around, listening to him talk to Tim about the school and the teachers and which bullies to avoid. Ed tried to sneak off, but somehow, for some reason, the two managed to track him down, suspiciously fast. And when they did find him, they came out of nowhere and nearly gave him a heart attack.

Once the tour was over, they returned to the gym for club and sports signup. Ed wasn't interested in any of the clubs. Link's recent discovery of his hidden talent made chess a sore subject for him, and there was no way he was joining a science club that switched scandium and yttrium. And, while he was grateful to Batman and Robin for saving Link and him from Black Mask, it would be a cold day in hell before he signed for a fan club dedicated to anyone but himself. He already considered himself president of the Al and Link fan clubs.

"Hey, Ed, think I should join the Robin fan club?" Tim asked.

"What?" Ed snapped out of his pleasant daydream and was displeased to find himself still in the gym and talking to Tim. The free pizza wasn't even warm.

"Should I join the Robin fan club?"

"Why? It looks like it's just a bunch a girls with a crush on him."

Tim's face turned a brighter shade of red than the fan club's sign. "Y… you think so? I mean…" Tim coughed awkwardly. "Well, there's lots of Robins, they could be…" a group of girls squealed as they signed up for the club, "squealing about the first Robin or something. He's pretty cool."

"Nah, think they're second Robin chicks," Jason snuck up on them from behind, making Ed jump again.

"Figures you'd say that," Tim rolled his eyes, his blush vanishing completely.

"You know, I was president of the Robin fan club last year," Jason said.

"No fucking shit, man," Tim snorted. "I'm so shocked. You? A fan of Robin? I never would have guessed." The sarcasm was strong.

"What? It's a great way to pick up chicks. And, they've all got great taste, being in the Robin fan club. Not so much this year though, what, with the new guy in the mask."

"Asshole," Tim grumbled. "There's nothing wrong with the new guy."

"Oh yeah? Then why don't you go over there and sign up?"

"No, you'll just make fun of me," Tim pouted. "And it'd be too weird."

"Why?" Ed asked. It wasn't like he was interested in their conversation, but watching Tim twitch was fun.

"No reason!" Tim snapped.

"Then sign up," Ed pushed.

"No way," Tim crossed his arms.

"Aw, but I thought you loved Robin?" Jason pouted.

"Sure, when I was a kid. It's different now. Way different."

"Come on, don't be shy. You could meet your one true love," Jason teased. "Just look at all those cute girls."

"Ew, gross. I'm not signing up to a club just because there's girls in it."

"Would you sign up for a Nightwing club?"

"No…" Tim said after a few minutes of hesitation. "Probably… not. Maybe. I dunno. I'd sign up to a Superman club, though."

"There hasn't been a Superman club here since Dick Grayson graduated," the student body president joined them, also from behind. Ed figured sneakery must be a Gotham trait.

"Yes, thank you, we know who Dick Grayson is," Jason said.

"Oh, right! I forgot he was your foster brother," she said, putting her hand to her lips and blushing.

"You don't gotta say 'foster brother' like it's stupid," Tim snapped. "In fact, you don't even have to say 'foster' at all, since we're all adopted."

"Oh, does that mean you'll all get a third of the Wayne fortune when daddy dearest dies?"

"Jen, back off. The only reason why I'm VP instead of you is 'cause you're a dirty little bitch who used her daddy's influence to buy people's votes."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Todd, it's not my fault your mommy killed herself doing meth and your daddy's in jail."

"For your information, it was crack, she was my step-mother, and my old man got offed by Two Face. If you're gonna smear someone, at least do it right. And do it yourself, instead of making your rich lawyer dad do it."

"She's not worth is, Jay," Tim put a hand on Jason's shoulder before he could follow up his insults with punches. "She's just lashing out because her parents don't pay enough attention to her."

"Humph," Jen turned her nose up at Tim. "You'd know all about that, wouldn't you? Todd isn't the only one I know about. You'd better watch yourself, Drake."

Tim had to take a deep breath to refrain from punching her.

"And who's this? You one of Bruce Wayne's newest projects," Jen sneered at Ed. "What's your sob story? Parents didn't want you, or something?"

Jen had made a mistake. No one was holding Ed back, and he had no qualms with hitting a girl, especially if she was asking for it. But Ed wasn't some violent, hot headed jerk, so he only socked her with a left handed undercut, straight to her jaw. He didn't think he hit her hard enough to break anything, unless her tongue was in an unfortunate position in her mouth.

"Holy shit!" Tim shouted in surprise.

"Well, fuck," Jason tried not to laugh.

The gym was dead silent. All eyes were on Ed. Jen, who was sitting on her rump, holding her face, slowly registered what just happened.

"He hit me!" She cried in a high pitched, very offended voice.

"Yeah, and I'd do it again," Ed spat.

"Holy shit," Tim snickered.

She touched her hand to her lip, and when it came back with a little blood on it, she squealed in distress. "I'm bleeding!"

"Oh, suck it up, it's not that much blood."

"I'm suing! My father's a lawyer! When he hears about this…"

"Oh dear, what happened!" A teacher finally made it to the scene.

"Principal Haddock, He hit me!"

"Is this true‽" The principal gasped, first looking to Jason, who tensed up, before realizing with slight embarrassment that she was pointing at the boy next to Jason.

"No," Ed said. "I'd say it was more of closed fisted undercut."

"Well, that is entirely unacceptable!"

"She provoked me," Ed snapped.

"Yes, she did," Tim quickly came to Ed's defense, which annoyed him, but he figured he shouldn't bite the hand that helped him. "She totally was asking for it. She was verbally bullying us."

Ed tried not to snicker as Tim tried to smooth talk their way out of this.

"Is this true?"

"I would never bully another student!" Jen gasped in shock.

"Sure, because gossiping and spreading dirt on other people isn't bullying at all," Jason snarled.

"You can't prove I said any of that! But I can prove you hit me," she pointed an angry finger at Ed and gingerly held her already swelling lip.

"I'm afraid she has a point," Principal Haddock said solemnly. "But there are three witnesses saying you did verbally bully them. I'm afraid I'll have to call both of your parents to pick you up early."

"Shit," Ed hissed. He hadn't thought of that when he threw his punch.

"Both! I'm the victim!" Jen complained. "I demand he be expelled!"

"Quick question, if I'm expelled, do I still have to go to school?" Ed asked Jason.

"Yup, but the public school, which is underfunded, smells like moldy socks, and I'm pretty sure the asbestos leaks into the one working drinking fountain. Plus, I think the principal carries around a crossbow."

"Good to know," Ed sighed. If he had to go to school, he'd rather it smelled nice and had clean water. "I object to being expelled."

"Now, now, you two," the Principal tried to clam them. Mostly Jen, Ed was surprisingly calm for having lost his cool enough to punch someone. "Let's not jump to extremes here. Let's just go down to my office and give your parents a call so they can come and take you home."

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	22. I Don't Need No Thought Control

**Chapter 22**

 **I Don't Need No Thought Control**

* * *

Gordon knew Ed was a hot head. He knew Ed getting into a fight was inevitable. But he was not in the mood to deal with Mr. Morton, both as a cop, the natural enemy of the lawyer, and as the legal guardian of the boy who'd punched a lawyer's daughter hard enough to draw blood.

Ed was standing outside the principal's office, arms crossed, foot tapping, and face scowling. Gordon could hear Mr. Morton shouting for Ed's expulsion from down the hall, and his daughter's whining when he got closer.

"You took long enough," Ed grumbled. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"I'll deal with you later," Gordon all but snarled at him. Gone was the good natured 'dad cop' and present was the pissed to high hell 'bad cop'. Ed's face paled.

"What's Edward done?" Gordon interrupted the lawyer's rant about suing the school if 'hoodlums like that were allowed in the same room as his delicate princess'.

"Ah, Commissioner, I was expecting Edward's parents, not the police."

"What, I can't be both? Who were you expecting under the name Gordon?"

"Oh, um, well, the paperwork hasn't been finished yet, what with Edward being signed up so late in the summer. All we had were his emergency contact numbers but no names. I'll have to have the staff update all the files immediately."

"You're telling me that the police commissioner's _son_ attacked _my_ daughter! I didn't even know he had a son!" Mr. Morton shouted as soon as there was a lull in the conversation. "I'm suing the school _and_ the police department!"

"I doubt that will be necessary," Gordon did his best to remain calm and save his fury for this mess for when he was alone with Ed. "I'm sure there are two sides to this story."

"Edward and his friends claim she was bullying them. Albeit verbally. And she claims she was not bullying them."

"I'm the student body president! Why would _I_ bully anyone?" the girl pouted.

Gordon wanted to say something about being popular didn't make one not a bully, but decided against further antagonizing the Mortons. "Look, I think we can all agree that, provoked or not, Edward should not have hit another student. I'll take him home and talk to him, let's just leave it at that."

"I will not allow a _delinquent_ to attend the same school as my daughter!"

"Well, if I find any students engaged in actual criminal actively, I'll be sure to arrest them," Gordon snapped. Ed was many things, but a delinquent was not one of them. "In the mean time, maybe you should teach your daughter some manners."

"How dare you…!"

"Alright! Alright," Principal Haddock held up his hands in defeat. "Let's make a compromise. Jennifer, I'm suspending you from student body counsel activities for the first week of school and assigning Edward detention after class for the first two weeks and no one sues the school. Is everybody happy with that?"

"That sounds fair," Gordon agreed.

"Suspended!" Jen cried. "I can't be suspended! I'm the president!"

"And I'm sure Jason can stand in for you for a week…"

"You can't suspend my daughter. She did nothing wrong."

"She's not suspended from school, Mr. Morton. Only the first week of the student body counsel activities. They meet once a week."

"But that's the most important meeting. You can't let _Jason Todd_ screw it up! He's just as bad! He has a criminal record."

"I assure you, he does not," the principal reassured her. "We don't accept students with a criminal record. And he's the VP."

"Only because of your stupid policy of letting the second place candidate be VP. I won, fair and square. He shouldn't even be on the counsel."

"Alright, I won't suspend you. But I will have to give you a warning in the future and I'd like your promise you won't bully anyone."

"Of course I promise! I would never bully anyone," Jen sniffled, finally wiping the crocodile tears from her face. Mr. Morton comforted his daughter as they left.

"How long is detention?" Gordon asked, sighing.

"You're not going to protest, too?"

"I saw her lip and I know Edward. Bullied or not, he shouldn't have resorted to violence and now he'll have to deal with the consequences. And I wouldn't worry about Morton suing. He's all talk. You should hear him in court. Threatening to sue the police for wrongfully arresting his client is his catchphrase."

"That's comforting," the principal practically deflected as the stress released from him. "Detention lasts an hour after school, he'll serve it in his homeroom."

"I'm sorry for Edward's behavior. He's been through a lot the past few months and he doesn't always handle things the way I'd like him to."

"Well, I appreciate you understanding, Commissioner," the principal said. "I hope this doesn't happen again."

"So do I," Gordon sighed. "I'll go take him home."

When Gordon left the principal's office, he found Ed sitting this time, his elbows on his knees and his head hung low. He looked up at Gordon when he walked out, half hoping the mild mannered man he'd come to know as having two emotions, mild annoyance and mild amusement, would be showing one of his two familiar faces. He was disheartened to find that was not the case.

"How much trouble am I in?" Ed asked quietly.

"Detention for the first two weeks of school, homeroom, an hour after school."

"That's not so bad," Ed sighed.

"And you're grounded for a month," Gordon snarled.

"Oh yeah? What're you gonna do? Not let me have friends over? I don't have friends, I don't have anything. I'm practically grounded anyway."

"You want me to think of something worse?" Gordon snapped. "I don't know what I was thinking when I adopted you two. I shouldn't have even driven you to the hospital, let alone adopted you on an impulse. I'm not your father, why the hell am I putting up with your bullshit!"

"I don't know," was all Ed could say. He hadn't expected that to hurt, but it felt like Gordon had stabbed him in the gut. The whole reason he still had Link was because of Gordon. And, as much as he was loath to admit it, no one had treated him the way Gordon did. Not since his mom died.

"Come on," Gordon snapped. "I'm driving you home."

Ed followed Gordon back to the parking lot, his head hung low. He'd never felt this bad for punching a jerk in the face. The first ten minutes in the car were silent, but the anger seeping off of Gordon was palpable. Were it not directed at Ed, he would have been tempted to ask for pointers.

"School hasn't even started yet, and you've already been called to the principal's office and I've been pulled from work," Gordon snarled after the fifth red light in a row broke his resolve towards the silent treatment. "What the hell were you thinking! You could have been expelled! He might sue me, you know that. You think I can afford to take care of you two if he sues me."

Ed didn't know how to respond.

" _What_ … what were you _thinking_ ‽"

Ed didn't answer.

"I _specifically_ told you not to punch anyone!" Gordon continued. "And what did you do?"

Ed still didn't answer. This was not a rhetorical question.

"What did you do!" Gordon all but shouted, slamming his palm on the top of the steering wheel.

"I punched someone," Ed muttered.

"You punched another student!" Gordon angrily hit the top of his steering wheel. "How could you have _punched_ her, Edward?"

"I was frustrated and angry," Ed knew how lame he sounded, but he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Oh, is that so? That makes everything alright, then. I just call the school and explain to them that your were mad and everything will be fine."

Ed winced.

"I have half a mind to send you to a boarding school myself after this. Make you someone else's problem. Do you have any idea how tired I am of putting up with _you_ being _mad_. If I weren't such a nice guy I'd be giving you a thrashing when we got home. Lucky for you, I'm not the kind of guy who'd hit a kid. And I doubt it'd work anyway."

Ed winced again.

"You pull a stunt like this again and I might just process you."

"I… I don't think I'm capable of _not_ getting into fights."

"You better damn well try, because if grounding you won't work, that's the only option I can think of other than putting you back in foster care."

"You… you can't!"

"Can't I‽ I adopted you to stop the foster system from separating you and Link, but, frankly, I think he'd have been better off in Metropolis, without you."

"Please, don't mean that," Ed closed his eyes. He felt like Gordon'd punched him in the gut.

"All you're doing is acting recklessly, putting him danger, setting a bad example. He looks up to you, God knows why, and you still act like a bullheaded idiot! Why don't you stop and think about how your actions effect other people before you do something! Or are you the only person who exists? Are the rest of us so beneath you that your actions don't effect us too? What is _wrong_ with you?"

"If I knew the answer to that, I'd be able to fucking fix it!" Ed snapped. "But I don't so it keeps happening, over and over. If I wasn't so self centered and focused on my own personal goals, there'd be people who'd still be alive right now. I'd still be home and I'd still have all my limbs. There's nothing you can say that hasn't already kept me up at night."

"Well, maybe you need someone to remind you every now and again," Gordon snarled, not at all impressed with Ed. "You were starting to forget."

Ed flinched.

By this time, they were already pulling up to the garage. "Since I can't think of anything that doesn't hurt Link other than grounding you, I want you to go to your room and stay there until dinner, and when dinner's over, I want you to go back to your room. You're only allowed out to go to the bathroom, understand?"

Ed had half a mind to snarl 'make me', but he didn't know what Gordon would do if he provoked him, so instead, he hunched his shoulders and grunted in acknowledgement.

"If I let this slide, it'll happen again and again and again, and I'm not going to put up with that kind of behavior from you."

Ed opened his mouth to protest.

"I know, _'I'm not your father_ ', right?" Gordon snapped at him before he could start his sentence. "Whether either of us likes it or not, I am now. I don't care how much you don't want to have to put up with me bossing you around, but as long as you live in my house, you'll have to live by my rules, got it?"

"Yeah, whatever," Ed grumbled, moving to get out of the car.

Gordon locked the doors before Ed could get out.

Ed shot him a death glare, "You think a locked door can stop me?" Ed snapped. But before he could clap his hands together, Gordon grabbed his wrist. Ed shot him a look and was startled to see it mirrored right back at him.

"Edward, I need you to promise me this won't happen again."

"Fine. Promise I won't punch another lawyer's brat."

"Edward."

"You and I both know me not getting into fights is impossible," Ed said.

"If you don't try…"

"You'll what? Send me to military school?"

"Edward, just promise me you'll try. Even if you don't mean it."

"Fine, I promise I'll try not to get into fights."

"Thank you," Gordon let go of Ed's wrist. "Edward, if you do this again we could lose everything. I could lose my job, the house, my…" he faltered, running a hand over his face in a meager attempt to calm himself. "My _family_. Edward, I could lose custody of you and Link." His voice shook with anger and fear. "If I lost you… and over something like this… I don't know what I would I do."

"Yeah," Ed scoffed. "And what'll you do when I find a way home and you lose us that way? Huh?"

Gordon didn't answer.

"That's what I thought," Ed snarled.

Ed stormed out of the car and Gordon followed. Once they were inside, Gordon called out to tell Link they were home, and Link quickly hobbled into the kitchen to give Ed a hug. Ed knew leaving him alone would upset him.

"What, did you think I wasn't coming back, or something?" Ed laughed, affectionately ruffling Link's hair.

"No," Link said. "I just missed you."

"I was barely gone for four hours, kid."

"I know."

"Alright, enough of that," Gordon sighed. "Edward, go to your room."

Ed grimaced, but stormed off anyway, slamming the bedroom door behind him.

"What happened?" Link whined. "Why's Ed in trouble?"

"He got in a fight and now I'm making him deal with the consequences, that's all. It's nothing to worry about. He's just grounded for the next few weeks."

"Grounded?" Link tilted his head.

"Usually it means he can't leave the house except to go to school, can't do any after school activities, and can't have any friends over, but since he's not involved with any after school activities and he doesn't have any friends, I've confined him to his room."

Link paled. "Oh."

"Link, what's wrong?" Gordon asked, worried Link had caught a virus or something and was getting sick. "Are you feeling sick? Do you need to sit down?" Gordon was prepared to carry Link to the living room if he was too ill to use his crutches.

Link shook his head. "I… I'm alright," he mumbled.

"Then what's the matter?"

Link shook his head and hobbled after Ed. Gordon couldn't make out what had spooked him. He'd taken into account Link's potentially troubled past when he was coming up with an effective way to discipline Ed's unacceptable behavior. He worried there was nothing he could do to get Ed to at least start acting civilized and at the same time avoid scaring Link. He hoped there was a solution, but it could take time.

* * *

Link found Ed curled up under his covers, sulking. Link'd never seen Ed this upset before. Sure, he was usually angry, but he'd never been angry like this. His anger usually came out as violent destruction or shouting rude words, not simmering under his covers.

"Are you okay?" Link said.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Ed grumbled, pulling the covers over himself farther so they covered his head.

"Oh," Link frowned and hobbled over to his own bed to sit down.

"Why the hell do I care that he's upset with me?" Ed complained. "I don't give a shit what he thinks!" Ed writhed with anger under his covers and bemoaned his predicament.

"I don't get it," Link tilted his head. Ed certainly was acting like he cared.

"Neither do I, that's why I'm upset. He thinks just because he adopted us he can go around acting like he's our old man but he's not! Where does he got off thinking he can just ground me like this?"

"What'd you do to make him this mad?"

"I punch'd this stupid bitch who pissed me off."

"Ed," Link signed. "You're only supposed to punch bad guys."

"Yeah, whatever."

"You're such a jerk sometimes," Link muttered.

"Shut up."

"Butt."

"Baby."

Link stuck his tongue out at Ed and jumped off his bed. He hobbled out of the room and left Ed to brood in solitude. He found Gordon sitting on the couch in the living room with his head in his hands. Like Ed, he'd never seen Gordon acting like this either. From his despondent attitude, Link'd think that Gordon was just as upset about having to ground Ed as Ed was that he was grounded, but he didn't know it was possible for an adult to regret punishing a child. No one'd ever regretted punishing him.

When Gordon noticed Link, he looked up. When he saw Link still had a sullen look on his face he sighed. "How's he taking it?"

Link's lips were sealed, however. He wouldn't betray his brother's feelings without his permission, even if Ed was a jerk.

"That bad, huh?" Gordon let out a single, unhappy laugh and put his head back in his hands. "Don't suppose you know why he acts out like this?"

Link shrugged.

"I have to go back to work for a few hours," Gordon got back up. "Did you have the sandwich I made you?"

Link nodded.

"And your medicine?"

Link nodded again. He didn't like swallowing such big pills, but the nurse said it would make the pain go away. He was almost done with them. Gordon said he'd buy him ice cream if he had them all on time.

"Alright. I'll be back around seven to make you two dinner."

"Ed can have dinner, too?" Link gasped quietly.

"What? Of course! I… I would never make either of you skip a meal, Link."

"Oh," Link visibly relaxed.

"Why would you think I would do that?" Gordon wasn't upset, he was concerned.

Link shrugged and looked down at his feet.

"Link," Gordon knelt down in front of Link so that he could better look into his eyes. "If you ever need to talk to someone, I'm here for you. So is Edward."

Link sniffled quietly.

"I have to go back to work, now," he got back to his foot. "All the emergency numbers are in the pad next to the answering machine. You know how to use the phone if you need me?"

Link nodded.

"Alright. Good. See you at seven, son," he gently patted Link's head and tried to give him a comforting smile, but Link was still looking down at his feet and didn't see it. Maybe it was just all the broken bones and pain medications. Once he was better, maybe he'd cheer up.

He looked over to the boys' bedroom door and considered telling Ed he was back off to work, but decided he was the last person Ed wanted to see right now, and Link knew where he was going and they both knew how to contact him in the event of an emergency. He honestly doubted they would, but at least they knew how.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	23. I Might Need an Education After All

**Chapter 23**

 **I Might Need an Education After All**

* * *

The next two weeks went by quickly. Meals were eaten in silence. Ed didn't want to talk to Gordon and Gordon didn't want to risk Ed sassing him, only for him to yell back and frighten Link. And Link was never one to talk, anyway, and starting a conversation was out of the question.

The only words exchanged between them happened on the first day of high school, when Gordon asked Ed how his classes were and if he liked his teachers. Ed responded with a rude gesture, and landed extra chores for the next week. He'd refused to wear his uniform and was sent home early, but he hadn't called Gordon to bring him home and instead played hooky at the library.

Gordon confiscated Ed's library card and threatened to add months to his grounding if he ever did that again. Though Gordon had to admit, he was glad Ed played hooky by studying at the library and not one of the various other, much more illegal ways most teenagers who played hooky did.

Now, it was Link's first day of school. Unlike Ed, who had attended the first few years of school in his small home town, Link had never been to school before, unless he counted the stories the Deku Tree used to tell, and Mido had kept him out of most of those. Saria would tell him about them later when they played in her secret grove in the Lost Woods, but it wasn't the same.

Gordon said the school was a K-8 private school and most of the kids went right into the same high school Ed was attending, which explained the similar dress code. Link's vest was itchy, and he wasn't used to full length pants, but he didn't want to complain. Gordon already dropped Ed off at the high school and now it was Link's turn. Link didn't want to get out of the car.

"Do you want me to walk in with you?" Gordon asked, looking at Link through the rearview window. "I can find a place to park."

"I'm not too old?"

"I'd walk in with Edward if he'd let me," Gordon laughed.

"What if no one likes me?"

"What's not to like about you? Your nice, polite, good looking…"

"No I'm not," Link blushed.

"They'll like you, I promise."

"How can you promise if you can't know for sure, though?"

"Look, Link," Gordon turned around to look Link in face. "You're a good kid. There's a lot of kids in that school, at least one of them is bound to like you. Do you want me to help you find your classroom?"

Link nodded. Gordon pulled up into a parking space and helped Link get out of the car. He carried Link's backpack for him, since Link had difficulty carrying it around his cast and brace and supporting himself on his crutches. When they got inside, Gordon asked the lady at the front desk where the fifth grade classrooms were, and then he helped Link get situated with his backpack in his cubby.

"Do I have to stay?" Link asked as Gordon was beginning to leave.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Gordon said, gently ruffling Link's hair.

"Do you have to go?"

"I've got to go to work."

"You're always at work," Link pouted.

"I'm a very busy man and my job is very important."

"I know, but…" Link frowned.

"I'll be back to pick you up at three, alright? And you know how to use your phone?"

Link nodded.

"And if you can't reach me, you can call Barbara or Harvey. Barbara always answers her phone."

"Okay," Link said.

Unlike Ed, Link was willing to listen to Gordon when he showed him how to call him if he needed to. Also unlike Ed, Link hadn't known how to use a phone before, and the look on his face when they tested Link's phone and Link heard Gordon's voice coming out of the small box in his hand had been priceless.

"You'll do fine, Link," Gordon said. "Now I really have to go." He ruffled Link's hair once more and then left. Most of the other parents, few though they were, had hugged their children goodbye, but Gordon didn't think Link was ready for that yet.

The classroom was alien to him. The desks were set up in groups of four or five, scattered around the room in front of a giant tv like thing that Link didn't recognize. It had speakers and a strange box on top of it, but Link didn't know what it was for. The teacher, a man about half Gordon's age, was sitting at a desk in one corner.

On the opposite side of the room from the desks were the cubby's and the bookshelves, plus a big pile of pillows, beanbag chairs, and a few smaller arm chairs. There was also a map of Gotham, another of the United States, and another of the world. The teacher had a Justice League poster on the back of his desk. Link recognized Batman, Superman, the Martian, and Wonder Woman, but there were others he didn't know about.

Link noticed all the other children were looking at little cards on each desk before sitting down, but he wasn't sure why and he wasn't sure how it would help him figure out where to sit.

Link was still standing by the cubbies, wishing Gordon had stayed a bit longer to help him find his seat, when the bell rang. Any child who wasn't already sitting down rushed to a seat, leaving only one empty. Link had never been so relieved in his life. Until he tried to hobble over to his seat and one of the kids at the same desk island kicked his crutch out from under him when he passed.

He hit the ground with a thud and a yelp, landing on his brace. One crutch clattered against the floor and the other slammed into the leg of a desk, making a huge banging noise that grabbed the attention of the teacher.

"Who did that?" He practically yelled. When he saw Link on the floor, with three injured limbs and crutches, he immediately rushed to Link and helped him to his desk. "Who did this?" He said, immediately looking at the boy who'd tripped Link. "Johnny?"

"I didn't do it?" Johnny, who definitely did do it, adopted an innocent look on his face.

"Well, did you see what happened?"

Johnny innocuously shrugged.

"He tripped me," Link said quietly. "He's playing dumb."

"Mr. Sanchez, I saw Johnny trip him!" A girl said, raising her hand eagerly as she talked. She was sitting across from Johnny at a separate desk island.

"Did anyone else see what happened?" Mr. Sanchez ignored her. No one came to Link or the girl's defense. Link noticed one of the kids at the girl's desk writing something over the card on her desk, but he couldn't make out anything from where he was sitting, and with no one coming to his defense, he didn't know what to do. "Well," Mr. Sanchez looked at the card on Link's desk. "I'm sorry, Link. Do you want to sit closer to the cubbies for now?"

Link shook his head. The cards must have their names on them, he realized. He might have some trouble.

"Alright, class," Mr. Sanchez got the class started. He turned on the giant TV thing and grabbed a pen sitting on a tray underneath it. When he wrote on the TV, it left behind a mark on the screen, but not like a pen. Link was fascinated by it, but since none of the other kids were amazed, he didn't ask in case it was common knowledge and it made him look stupid. "Does anyone know what this is?"

The girl raised her hand and said eagerly, "An Icebreaker is a game to get to know other people!"

Johnny raised his hand.

"Yes, Johnny?"

Johnny repeated, word for word, what the girl said.

"Very good, Johnny," Mr. Sanchez went back to writing on the board.

Link was very confused.

"We're going to play 'two truths and a lie' first," he wrote down three things. "I'll go first. Alright, who can guess which of these is the lie?" No one raised their hand this time, and the girl was starting to get discouraged. "Link? Why don't you try."

"Um," Link didn't know what Mr. Sanchez had written on the board. "The second one?" He made a wild guess.

"Very good, I went to California for my honeymoon, not Peru," Mr. Sanchez grabbed a bag and tossed him a tiny candy bar. "Link, how about you go next?" He held out the pen for Link.

"Do I have to write it?" Link asked. "M… my casts…"

"Oh, yes, of course. You say it out loud and I'll write it down, how about that?"

"Um, that's okay, I guess." Link started to turn red when he noticed everyone was looking at him. "Uh…"

"Alright, you tell us three things about yourself, two of them that are true and one of them that isn't, and everyone will guess which one's the lie. Whoever gets it right, gets a candy and if no one gets it right, you get three more candies!"

"Um…" Link suddenly forgot everything about himself. "Uh… I… I can't think of anything," Link mumbled.

"Alright, we'll come back to you."

He called on other students, who wrote their names and then three things about themselves. The rest of the students would raise their hand when the Mr. Sanchez asked if they thought one, two, or three was false. Link just raised his hand when the majority of the students did and so far, he didn't think anyone suspected his dreadful secret. By the time everyone had gone, Mr. Sanchez forgot Link had skipped his turn, and he was nearly off the hook.

Johnny raised his hand.

"Yes, Johnny?"

"You forgot Link," Johnny said. He looked happy to see Link's face drop.

"Oh, you're right. I'm sorry, Link. How about you come up here and tell everyone about yourself. Don't forget, two truths and one lie."

"Can I stay in my seat?"

"Sure."

"Thank you. Um, number one, I grew up in a forest. Number two, I'm adopted. And, number three, my mother was from London." He named the first city he could think of that was on Earth but wasn't Gotham.

"Who thinks it was the first one?" A little over half of the students raised their hands. "Second one?" Only a few kids raised their hands. "Third?" More students than the second but less than the first. "Alright, which was it?"

"Number three," Link said. "I don't know who my mother is."

"Bet you were an ugly baby and she didn't want to look at you anymore," Johnny snickered quietly enough that Mr. Sanchez wouldn't hear him.

"Yeah, probably," Link agreed sadly. Johnny hadn't expected to get such a resigned response, but it wasn't anything Link hadn't already thought about in deep, agonizing detail, late and night when he couldn't sleep, which was often.

Johnny just huffed.

The next activity was a handout. It was like one nightmare after another for Link. He wasn't sure if he could keep up his charade, but he'd have to try. He didn't want anyone to know. They had a grid with interesting things on them, and they had to get people to sign a box that applied to them. If they got every box signed in ten minutes, they'd get a candy.

At first, Link thought it would be impossible, since he didn't know what the boxes said. But he found that if he did nothing, people would go to him and ask him if he could sign one of their remaining boxes. Luckily for him, the first person who asked him asked if he was multilingual, and since he was, Hylian, Gerudo, and English, and since his arms were in casts, he didn't actually have to find the box that applied to him since the students had permission to write Link's name down for him. All Link had to do was tell people he was multilingual and hand them his sheet to sign an empty box.

Once word got around that Link was the only one in the class that was multilingual, everyone came to him to to honorarily get his permission to sign their multilingual box, and he was finished before anyone else, since he could sign his own name on one box; he'd asked the first person who asked him also sign his name on his, since writing was still difficult. By the time the exercise was over, no one knew Link's secret, everyone knew he was multilingual, and he realized he wouldn't have this crutch when his cast and brace came off in a month.

* * *

They played a few more games, and then it was snack time. Gordon had actually made him his own snack and lunch before he drove Ed and him to school and then went to work himself. He was still getting used to Gordon making food for him, but it was always a pleasant surprise to realize someone cared enough about him to go out of their way to make sure he had food to eat.

He'd even bought him a special Martian Manhunter lunch box and ice pack so he could keep his milk cold. The proceeds from the lunchbox went to helping refugees. All of the Justice League merchandise went to various charities, like Superman and the Martian's went to refugees, Green Lantern's went to veterans, and the Flash's went to children in foster care.

Link ate his snack alone at his desk, until Johnny came over. Link thought he was just getting something from his desk at first, but then grabbed Link's crutches he held them out of Link's reach. Link couldn't go after them without the crutches. He could only glare at him helplessly.

"Give me back my crutches," Link demanded.

"What're you gonna do about it? Cry to mommy? Oh, right, she didn't want you."

"My… my foster dad's the police commissioner," Link said, narrowing his eyes threateningly. He wouldn't stand for yet another person to treat him the same way Mido treated him.

"No he's not, you're just saying that to make me scared," Johnny snorted.

"No I'm not! He is!"

"Sure, and my dad's the president of America!"

"Give me back my crutches."

"Come and get them, cripple."

Finally, Link was in a situation where their supervisor had legs and his bully couldn't do anything he wanted to him without repercussions. "Mr. Sanchez! Johnny took my crutches!" Link cried, using his most hurt, distressed voice.

Mr. Sanchez, who was eating his own snack and sitting at his computer, was startled from whatever video he was watching and looked around until he found Johnny holding Link's crutches, just out of Link's reach, and Link pitifully wailing his injury at the injustice.

"You little tattle," Johnny snarled. "You'll pay for this."

"Johnny! What are you doing?"

"Nothing, Mr. Sanchez," Johnny, too, milked his distress for all it was worth. "I don't know why he's upset. I asked him if I could see them first!"

"No he didn't!" Link sniffled.

"Johnny, give Link back his crutches. Don't let me catch you doing this again, or you won't get recess."

"Fine," Johnny shoved Link's crutches back at him and stalked back to his friends on the other side of the room.

Link kept his crutches in his lap and went back to eating in silence. Johnny was only picking on him because he thought he couldn't fight back. If he'd didn't allow Johnny the satisfaction of making him upset or allowing him victory, maybe he'd lose interest and leave him alone.

It hadn't worked with Mido, but Kokiri Forest was a small place, and there was no one else for Mido to bother. Link hated the idea of letting Johnny bully someone else, but he desperately didn't want to get into a fight. He didn't know what he'd do if Gordon became as angry with him as he was with Ed.

* * *

The rest of the day went by uneventfully. Link didn't feel like going outside for recess and stayed in the classroom with Mr. Sanchez, so Johnny couldn't bully him without Link tattling on him again. He didn't have to participate in P.E. on account that he couldn't participate in P.E. And Spanish class was super easy. All they did was learn how to say things like 'my name is' and 'good morning'.

If Link could teach himself almost flawless English using an alien translator and his brother, he could learn Spanish from a teacher. And Spanish class was ninety percent the teacher saying something in Spanish, then what it meant in English, and then having the class repeat it back in Spanish. She even complimented Link on his accent and asked if he was a native speaker.

Art class was just drawing, which Link did anyway. They had to draw their family, then their house, and then their favorite food. Of all the things for Link to remember, the Lon Lon Ranch logo wasn't one that he expected to forget, and drawing a cup of milk felt lame, but drawing a cow felt stupid. In the end, he drew himself drinking milk next to a cow to symbolize he liked his milk really, really fresh.

Drama class was the hardest, however. Link's acting was never very good and he was terribly shy if everyone was looking at him. And then they had to read from a script. Link asked to go to the bathroom and stayed in a stall for the rest of the class, using the excuse that his crutches and cast made it really hard to pee in a straight line. Despite how horrible of an actor he was, the teacher bought it, but he wouldn't be able to use the excuse forever.

He dreaded the day he got the casts off and had to do everything the teachers expected of him that he couldn't do. He'd have to find a way to get around his problem without anyone knowing about the problem. All the tests they took in their main classroom were multiple choice or true or false. If Link could find a way of getting ahold of the answer sheet, he could memorize the order of the filled in bubbles and pass any test without Mr. Sanchez or Gordon being the wiser to his horrible secret.

If he could delve through five temples to awaken the sages and four to awaken the Giants, he could sneak the answer sheets to his tests from his teacher's desk. Then, no one would ever have to know he couldn't read and Gordon wouldn't be any the wiser that Link wasn't worthy of Gordon calling him 'son'.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	24. For He's a Jolly Good Fellow

**Chapter 24**

 **For He's a Jolly Good Fellow**

* * *

A month later, and half way through Ed's grounding, Ed got into another fight at school. It wasn't anything your normal, hotheaded, kindhearted teenager wouldn't have done. Ed was going to his locker to get his math textbook when he found the varsity football quarterback locking a skinny chess geek in his locker. Ed told him to quit it, the quarterback told him to 'make him', so Ed did. The skinny chess geek was thrilled, Principal Haddock and Gordon, not so much.

Since Ed was still grounded, and it didn't seem to be doing much, instead of adding to Ed's sentence, Gordon assigned him a multitude of chores. Gordon was still used to living on his own, so he hadn't made Ed or Link mow the lawn, take out the trash, weed the flowerbeds, or even clean the dishes. Now, all of that was Ed's job and it would be until he either found a way home or turned eighteen, whichever came first.

When it was time for Ed to clean Gordon's car, Gordon stayed out and watched to make sure Ed didn't cheat by transmuting the dirt and grime away.

"I'm done!" Ed shouted after half an hour, slamming the bucket in front of Gordon and making to huff his way back into the house to mope on his bed.

"You missed the wheels," Gordon said, shoving the bucket right back into Ed's hands.

"There's soap in my joints!" Ed complained. "I'm gonna have to use a toothbrush to prevent rusting!"

"You can deal with that after you finish cleaning the wheels."

"This sucks," Ed grumbled.

"Should have thought of that before you got into another fight."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Next time I'll just let the quarterback shove the chess geek into his locker. I'm sure you'd love me to turn a blind eye when I see something bad happening. That's what you're all about!"

"Edward…" Gordon sighed.

"I'm sorry that I can't just let something bad happen and not do something about it!"

"That's not what upsets me. What upsets me is that you're almost overeager to resort to violence."

"Well, big strapping quarterback's been hit in the head too many times to back off when he's verbally warned."

"There were other ways to handle that."

"Sure there were," Ed huffed.

"If you stopped to think about it instead of taking the easy way out…"

"What more do you want from me!" Ed shouted. "Go to school, don't punch people, don't use your alchemy. It's like you don't want me to find a way home!"

"That's not…"

"Then let me do my own thing!"

"I can't do that when your own thing is getting into fights!"

"I wouldn't be getting into fights if you weren't making me go to school! All the fights I've gotten into were at school!"

"I have to make you go to school or I could lose custody of you and your brother, not to mention my job. I could even end up going to jail. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"If it meant I didn't have to put up with you anymore," Ed grumbled.

"Would you rather put up with child protective services and Ms. Phetchet?"

"No," Ed frowned.

"Then clean the wheels, stop getting into fights, and go to school."

Ed grumbled and got to cleaning the wheels. He was half way through the third one, when he realized if Mustang or Hohenheim had ever told him to clean the car, Ed would have punch them both in the jaw, consequences be damned. So why wasn't he fighting back and throwing caution to the wind?

Ed stopped scrubbing the rubber.

"What's wrong?" Gordon asked.

Ed looked down at the sponge in his hand and squeezed it angrily. He didn't like wasting energy thinking about stuff like this. Silently, he tossed the sponge into the bucket and leaned against the car. "Fuck!" He shouted angrily.

"Edward?"

"Fuck you!" He snapped. "Fuck everything," Ed sighed.

"What? Did I miss something?"

"What's your angle, old man‽"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me! What's your angle? Why'd you adopt us?"

"It was the right thing…"

"To do, yeah, I know, you've said. What's your real reason?"

"Edward, I don't know what you're talking about. That is the real reason."

"That… that can't be the real reason, it doesn't benefit you. It doesn't make any sense. You don't get anything out of it other than having to put up with us and I… I don't get it. It's not worth it. You're getting the short end."

"Certainly feels like sometimes," Gordon sighed. "Look, Edward, I don't know what you're talking about."

"It's not equivalent! Everything has to be equivalent. You're not… you're not getting anything from us but we're getting pretty much everything from you."

"I'd be getting a clean car if you didn't keep stalling," Gordon pointed out.

"That doesn't equal having to take care of us. You don't even want me to use my alchemy. You don't want a clean car, you want me to regret getting into a fight… again… after you told me not too."

"All right, you got me there. As a police officer, I get free car washes at the gas station closest to the headquarters. I just needed a way to motivate you to stop getting into fights and I'd never hit you."

"But… but… why'd you adopt us if you weren't getting anything out of it?"

"Edward, sometimes gratification isn't instant."

"What? So you do have an angle, it's just long term?"

"No, that's not what I meant. Parents don't have kids so that they get some tangible reward. Parenthood is its own reward."

"But you're not our father! We're not your kids!"

"Edward…"

"Sure, parents take care of their kids, that's… that's because of survival of the fittest. They get survival of their genes, the ultimate reward. Sure, I mean… I mean sometimes a parent skips out on their kids but… but regardless… you don't get any of that from adoption. You get the survival of someone else's genes. That, from an evolutionary viewpoint, is self destructive. It's unnatural."

"Ever the scientist, I see? Edward, not everything can be observed and measured like a science experiment. Life is the most complicated thing there is and there's more to it than your alchemy can hope to explain. I admit, some things can be explained like that, but there are things that are unquantifiable, like parenthood."

Ed muttered something in frustration.

"You can't always expect to get something every time you give something. No one can. That's not how life works; that's not how humans work. Sometimes you get lucky and win the lottery, and sometimes life just isn't fair and takes without giving anything back. As hard it it may be for you to understand; not everything has the same logic to it. Science doesn't always have the answer."

Ed cried out in anger and furiously scrubbed the last tire. As soon as he was done, he slammed the bucket into Gordon's chest and stormed back into the house, slamming every door that got in his way, until he returned to mope under his covers.

Gordon sighed. He had been so busy worrying about Link's past it completely escaped him that Ed's past could be equally as troubled. He had applied logic to the injustices done to him, and now, after being treated like a person instead of a pawn for the first time in who knew how many years, that logic was falling apart. Someone giving and not expecting anything back wasn't logical. He hadn't realized he was doing just that with Link. That's what family meant, and the three of them were a family now.

* * *

That night, dinner was almost another excruciatingly silent affair. Ed was still reeling from their conversation earlier, still trying to process what it meant to have a parent. It'd been so long since he had a parental relationship he'd forgotten what it felt like.

It was Link who broke the silence.

"Can I have a birthday?" Link asked quietly. "I… don't want a party or anything big like that, I was just wondering… if… you know… all the other kids have birthdays and I don't and… I was just wondering."

"You… don't know when your birthday is?" Gordon asked. He should have known, since Link didn't even know exactly how old he was, but it was something so obscure and constant, he hadn't thought to connect the dots.

Link shook his head. "No one ever bothered to remember it and I don't know when it is. Suppose it's got to be sometime, but… no one ever told me when. No one cared enough about me to remember."

"Edward, when's your birthday?"

Ed shrugged, "Third of February. 'Bout five months from now. Guess I'll be sixteen. Haven't really cared since I was little, though. Probably already sixteen, but if I can't have custody of Link when I'm eighteen anyway, I don't suppose it matters if I'm turning sixteen or seventeen."

"Hm," Gordon frowned. He didn't think Ed was still angry about that. "Do you have an idea on when your's is, Link?"

Link shook his head. "I think it's in fall, but I'm not sure. When I asked… they didn't know." In actuality, when he asked, he received a backhand and a very harsh 'you aren't important enough.' But he didn't want Ed or Gordon to know that. They didn't know he wasn't very important and he liked it when they treated him better than he knew he deserved.

"Well, I certainly don't want to deny you a birthday," Gordon said. "It's fall now. How about some time next month? Um, pick a number between one and thirty one, that can be the day."

"November has thirty days," Ed grunted. Gordon ignored him.

"Twenty one," Link mumbled.

"Alright, November twenty-first is now your birthday. What you want to do?"

"Can I have a puppy?" Link whispered.

"What?"

"He wants a puppy," Ed said.

"I heard that," Gordon sighed. "Link, I can't… I don't have time to take of the both of you and a dog."

"Please! I'll take care of the puppy, I promise!" Link begged.

"No, Link, I can't… I don't have the time to budget for veterinary bills and dog food…"

"Please!"

"It's too much, I'm sorry. I can get you of those Nintendo DI things, or whatever they're called."

"But I want a puppy," Link pouted.

"How about a bike?"

"Don't know how to ride a bike."

"I can teach you. You'll have your casts off by then. It'll be fun. Oh, and, Edward, since you're turning sixteen, I can teach you how to drive. I can take time off work to take you down to the DMV and get you a driver's permit."

"Why?"

"Thought you'd want to be more independent"

"No, I meant, what's the catch?"

"You can't drive without me in the state of New Jersey until your sixteenth birthday."

"That's not a catch."

"Then there isn't one."

"Hmph," Ed grunted. "Fine, whatever. Need my own car for real independence anyway."

"I can't get you a car and not get Link a dog," Gordon said. "But if you get a part time job, you could save up for one."

"Can I get a job?" Link asked. "For the puppy?"

"No, you're too young to have a job, Link," Gordon said. "But I appreciate your gumption."

"What's gump… gump…"

"Gumption?" Gordon asked, laughing warmly at Link's attempt to sound out the word. "It means initiative."

Link frowned. He didn't ask what initiative meant, but his ears turned red.

"Initiative means to take charge of a situation," Gordon said.

"Oh," Link mumbled. "Ed, if you get a job can you get me a puppy?"

"No way, man," Ed grumbled. "I wouldn't even let Al keep a cat. He kept smuggling strays into our hotel rooms. One of them shit in my shoe." He was about to add that one of them shit in Al, but he hadn't told them about Al's condition and he didn't want to think about it. "Do you have any idea what dogs do to shoes? Shitting'll be the least of my concerns. Dogs either don't like me or like me too much."

"You guys suck," Link pouted, pushing his food around with his fork.

"'Sides, I'm not getting a job just for a car. I can make my own."

"Oh, and where will you get the parts?" Gordon asked.

"I'll make those, too," Ed snapped.

"With what materials?"

"I dunno. I can get them from the dump or something."

"You have to pay for scrap."

"That's bullshit."

"You could always mow lawns."

"If I did that, would I still have to do chores?"

"If you can get a job, I'll let you off the hook for some chores, but only for this incident. If you get into another fight, you'll be back where you started."

"Fine, whatever."

* * *

The next month flew by. Halloween came and went. But the only celebration Link had was at school. Gordon forbade them from trick-or-treating and he was swamped at work for two weeks trying, and only slightly failing, at keeping Scarecrow and his followers from taking over Gotham. Then the Joker tried a take over, and then Two Face. Gordon said Black Mask would have had a shot at it too, with all the chaos, had he not been locked up in Black Gate Prison. Halloween was, without a doubt, the least popular holiday in Gotham. Either that, or it was too popular. Link and Ed barely saw Gordon for a full ten days.

Link got his cast off, Ed got a part time job at a book store, which he actually enjoyed, since the owner, Mr. Baranyi, didn't mind Ed reading the books during the down times, and best of all, no one suspected that Link couldn't read. Of course, he felt horrible for cheating on his tests, but as long as he passed those, no one would start getting suspicious. The feeling of shame was preferable to Gordon throwing him away like a defective, useless child.

Link was doing well with his physical therapy, and was already feeling much better. He was also getting close to being done with his vision therapy. He could almost make out distinct shapes without his glasses on, and everything was almost crystal clear with them. What he really wanted, what he needed, was to get back his depth perception, which still wasn't top notch, as it was before.

He wanted to go to an archery range to practice with his bow, but he had been too shy to ask Gordon to take him. He didn't want to get rusty with his bow, it was one of his most important weapons, especially since he didn't have a sword. He wondered if Gordon would ever teach him how to use a gun.

* * *

Before Link knew it, the twenty first of November was upon them. It was a Friday, so he had to go to school for most of it, but Gordon promised they would have a special outing on Saturday. He'd try extra hard to clear his weekend to spend it with them. On Friday, Gordon bought Link cupcakes to give to the class. They sang him a song and everyone was nice to him when he still had five left over. But Link gave them to his extra curricular teachers instead of giving two to someone who'd already had one. It got him good graces with teachers, but the student weren't as happy as they could have been.

Gordon also bought him a bike. It wasn't anything ridiculously fancy, but it was hardly cheap. It was a brilliant red with a white seat and handlebars. It had training wheels at first, but Link picked up on the mechanics of riding a bike so fast that the training wheels were only on for a few hours and were now sitting in the garage next to Barbara's old training wheels. It wasn't that Link didn't have fun with his bike, he did. It just wasn't a puppy.

On Saturday, Gordon took both Ed and Link to a movie, Big Hero 6, and then to Gotham's boardwalk, the Amusement Mile. They only spent half an hour there before Gordon spotted some unseemly characters and decided to end that part of their outing early in favor of safety. Usually the Amusement Mile was a fun place to go with the family, but occasionally, the Joker would target it with one of his twisted, oft-deadly pranks, and Gordon wasn't one to take chances with his family's lives. Ed complained about overprotectiveness but Link didn't mind. He wasn't tall enough for most of the rides anyway.

They went to Gordon's favorite diner for dinner. This was the first time Link had been there with both Ed and Gordon. Sometimes Gordon took Link there before or after his vision therapy, since the office was close by, but Ed was usually at school or work.

Link was grateful that the menu had pictures of most of its food, since he would have no idea what was on it any other way, unless someone read it to him. But no one knew he couldn't do that himself, so he always kept it quite.

He was wistfully eyeing the picture of a stack of pancakes covered in whipped cream when Sally came over to take their order. It being late lunch, both Ed and Gordon ordered from the lunch and dinner menu, but Link knew what he wanted and it was his birthday, which meant he was more likely to get it.

"And what'll you be having, sweetie?" Sally smiled kindly at him. He noticed people were happier to see him then they were Ed or Gordon. It was a similar reaction to seeing an adorable puppy.

"Can I have pancakes?" Link asked.

"I'm afraid the breakfast menu is closed, hon."

"Please?" Link begged sweetly. "It's the first birthday I've ever had." He laid it on as thick as he could without making it overly sappy. "Pancakes are my favorite."

"Oh, alright," Sally smiled. "But only because it's your birthday, sweetie."

"Thank you!" Link grinned gleefully.

"And how old are you today?"

"Eleven!" Link chirped.

"Congratulations!" Sally smiled. She turned to Gordon, "Such a sweet little boy you have," she said.

"He's a good kid," Gordon agreed, ruffling Link's hair.

Sally nodded in agreement and went to give their order to the cook and check around that the rest of the patrons were enjoying themselves.

"Jeez, kid," Ed laughed. "Way to get what you want."

"Might as well use it while I have it," Link smirked cheekily.

This made both Gordon and Ed laugh. Link had never heard them both laugh at the same time. Usually if Gordon was there Ed would clam up and sass him, and Link was rarely alone with Gordon. Ed was usually there to sour the mood. But today was Link's day, and neither of them wanted to spoil it for him, so Ed was behaving himself.

All in all, their late lunch, extremely late breakfast went by like a dream. All three of them were having fun at the same time. It filled Link with a warm, fuzzy feeling that he'd never experienced before. It took him a little to realize that that was what it felt like to have a family, a real family.

But by the time came for desert, Link realized that it wasn't real. Tomorrow Ed would return to normal and continue snubbing Gordon. And then, eventually, Ed would find a way home and he'd leave Gotham, and Gordon, behind like a hot potato or an unpleasant memory. Link would have to choose. No matter what happened he'd have to pick between loosing a father or a brother. The thought filled Link with dread. It completely soured the mood.

Link was thoroughly bummed when Sally brought out a cupcake with a candle on it. Even when everyone sang to him again. Gordon ruffled his hair. It felt fatherly and loving. Ed covertly flicked a wad of whipped cream onto Link's face, then laughed when Link yelped in surprise. Gordon scolded him. 'Don't torment your brother,' he said. It was something a father would say.

"Well, Link, aren't you gonna blow out the candle and make a wish?" Ed asked.

"I get to make a wish?" Link gasped. "Will it come true?"

"Sure, but only if you don't tell anyone what it is," Ed said slyly. Link couldn't tell if Ed was messing with him or not, but Gordon didn't dispute it.

Link looked into the little flame and focused all his heart on a wish. I wish I don't ever have to choose between them, Link whispered to himself. He blew the candle out and Sally clapped happily, before taking the candle out and taking it to toss it out. Link was about to take a bit from his cupcake when he realized the implications of his wish. If he never had to choose, Ed would be stuck here forever and he'd never see his friends or family again.

"Can I take back my wish?" Link asked quietly. He didn't want to tell them what it was, because then Ed might get mad at him, but he didn't want it to come true. "I want to make a different one." He would have rather wished for a puppy.

"What'd you wish for?"

Link shook his head. He knew if he told them it wouldn't come true, but he couldn't risk Ed knowing he tried to ruin his chances of getting home.

"Well, I'm sure it will all turn out alright," Gordon comforted him.

"I hope so," Link mumbled. The cupcake tasted like guilt.

* * *

It was around this time that Link learned about Christmas. Whenever Gordon was home, he'd ask for a puppy, not taking 'no' for an answer. He was reluctant at first to continue pressing, but when Gordon showed no signs of angering, he slowly came out of his shell and was truly acting like the eleven year old he was.

He'd never truly asked for anything without getting slapped or belittled before, let alone begged incessantly. And while he hadn't made any progress in breaking down his foster father, he hadn't gotten in trouble. He was starting to think there was nothing he could do that would make Gordon hit him.

When November ended, people started stringing green and red lights from their roofs and the air began to chill. Ed worked overtime at the used book store to make enough money to buy his own car. The store was within walking distance of Link's school and Ed had a train card, so Gordon usually picked them up from there. There was also a family owned ice cream and candy parlor across the street that Ed would sometimes take Link too after the book store closed and before Gordon got there to pick them up.

Link would hang out and watch Ed work, unless he had chess club. He felt strange hanging out in a book store when he didn't know how to read. It was difficult to get Mr. Baranyi to leave him alone. He kept recommending books. Link didn't think the recommendations were wrong. He was certain he would enjoy the books if he could. The problem was that he couldn't.

So instead, he usually busied himself with a puzzle toy or a sudoku book. No one would suspect someone capable of solving a Rubik's Cube without help or a master level sudoku puzzle didn't know how to read. He had a natural affinity for solving puzzles. If he didn't, he'd be dead.

It was only three days before Christmas and Ed was busy putting up their second order of the newest Percy Jackson novel while Link hung out on a couch near the store entrance, fiddling with a Megaminx, a Rubik's Dodecahedron of sorts. Mr. Baranyi had given it to him for Christmas, since he loved to see children doing things that didn't involve video games. It's what kept him in business. That, and selling used textbooks to Gotham State University students. He'd given Ed a hearty bonus and a book about Nicola Tesla.

"How are you doing that?" Ed asked. He'd fiddled with the regular cube for weeks before he gave up and memorized the algorithms from a puzzle book. He hadn't even considered wasting his time on a Megaminx.

Link shrugged. "I dunno. It's just easy."

"It's twelve sided and you haven't even peeked at the cheat sheet! It took you, what, a week to figure out the cube, both three by three and five by five? One week for each! That's nuts"

Link shrugged again. "I'm just good at puzzles, I guess."

"Chess, sudoku, Rubik's Cubes, is there anything that the both of us can do that you're not better at?"

Link shrugged. "I dunno about stuff we can both do, but there's loads of stuff you can do that I can't." Like reading, Link added to himself.

"Yeah, but if we can both do something, you're always better. It's the same with Al. You know, he's better at Alchemy than me. When we discovered he also could transmute without a circle, I felt like my life was over!"

"That's over dramatic," Link scoffed

"So! It was my thing. The one thing I had that was better than him. And then he took it from me. He's taller than me, people like him more, he's better at alchemy, I've never beaten him in a spar… the only thing I have over him is a year and two months!"

"Well, you know what they say, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

"Ha ha, very funny."

Link shrugged, smirking sheepishly. "I wouldn't know, personally. I'm an only child. My parents got it right the first time. Either that, or they died before they could have another one," Link frowned. In reality, he was pretty sure his mother left his father because he was a lowlife and abusive scum and Link was a bastard, but he wasn't sure. He distracted himself from the unsettling thoughts with his twelve sided puzzle.

Ed was almost done wrapping up and getting ready to walk over to the ice cream parlor with Link when both their phones vibrated in their pockets. It was a group text from Gordon. Barbara had suggested getting them smart phones, which made group texting easier, but Ed didn't want one, so Link agreed with him. It was best to just agree with Ed on the little things, Link found. There was less fighting.

I'm stuck at work, I'll be an hour late. Sorry, boys.

"Typical," Ed snarled at his phone and angrily shoved it in his pocket.

"I thought you didn't like being around him."

"As much as I hate to admit it," Ed complained. "Until I can drive, he's our ticket around this armpit of a city."

"Edward, my boy," Mr. Baranyi walked in from the back just as Ed began complaining. "Why do you disrespect your father like this." He spoke with a thick Hungarian accent. Why he picked Gotham when he moved to the US and not Metropolis or Central City, Ed would never know.

"He's not my father," Ed grumbled.

"Yes, but this man, he takes you and your brother in, he gives you a home, and you treat him like this!"

"I didn't ask him for help," Ed snapped. "I don't need his help."

"You need him to drive you around," Link said.

"I only need him to drive us around because there's no rail station near his stupid house! If I could'a picked where we lived, it'd be closer to the rail. And I wouldn't have to put up with him and his stupid rules."

"And it would be you paying for food and electricity and plumbing and rent. You are a boy, Edward. Save such worries for when you are a grown man."

"I'm grown enough," Ed snapped. "I can take care of us myself. I know how."

"But it is not easy."

"That doesn't mean I can't do it."

"No, it means you should not have to, my boy. The Commissioner is a good man. He cares a great deal for you boys. You should not take his kindness for granted. Others would not be so generous. They could not! Raising children is no easy expense. He gives much to make you comfortable."

"Yeah, so," Ed muttered. "It's nothing I couldn't give. Nothing I haven't already given in spades."

"But now you are not now giving, because he is instead, igen?"

Ed frowned. He hated it when other people pointed out how bullheaded he was being. It wasn't that he didn't already know, he just chose not to acknowledge or change his poor behavior unless he absolutely had too or it started bothering even him. Mr. Baranyi had only known him for a few months and already he knew how to make him feel bad for doing or saying something cruel or rude.

Ed grumbled something under his breath and stalked off to the dark comedy section. He spent a few minutes scrounging through the books before grabbing a satisfactory one and bringing it behind the counter, where he checked it out and wrapped it, slapping a sticker on it and signing it. He then stalked over to Link, grabbed their backpacks, and practically dragged his little brother to the door.

"We're leaving!" Ed snapped.

Mr. Baranyi smirked at the wrapped book.

"I don't wanna talk about it!" Ed hugged the book to his chest, hiding it from sight. He quickly shoved it in his backpack and herded Link out of the book store and into the ice cream parlor across the street.

Ed bought Link a holiday themed cookie and they sat down at a booth in the back, where Ed got started on his homework while Link happily munched on his sugary treat, swinging his feet under the bench and humming quietly to himself. Link acting so young and innocent relaxed Ed. It made him feel like everything was alright, as it was supposed to be, until he thought about it. He missed Alphonse.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	25. All I Want for Christmas is You

**Chapter 25**

 **All I Want For Christmas is You**

* * *

On Christmas morning Link woke up before everyone else, like usual. With winter break, Ed had been spending almost all his time sleeping, but he'd promised to let Link wake him up for Christmas. What he'd expected was for Link to jump up onto his bed and wake him up gleefully, shaking him until he was awake enough to push Link away. What actually happened was much different.

Link gingerly and timidly poked Ed until he groggily woke up. At first, Ed wasn't even sure it was Christmas. Little kids always got worked up about holidays like this one, where there was both cake and presents, especially for them. Link had been acting so normal the last few days, Ed forgot that Link wasn't a normal little kid.

"It's Christmas," Link whispered when Ed finally opened his eyes.

"Is it?" Ed asked, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

Link nodded, his face stoic but his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Is Gordon up?" Ed asked, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

Link shrugged.

"Well, you'd better go get him too, then," Ed said.

"You don't think he'd get mad?" Link asked quietly.

"I can't think why?" Ed shrugged.

"Okay!" Link chirped. He scampered out of the room. He was much more agile without the casts and crutches slowing him down. Ed laughed at how eager Link was. He was so young.

Gordon hadn't been woken by a child on Christmas in over a decade. And he'd never been woken by a gentle nudge before. Barbara would launch herself at him from the other side of the room screaming bloody murder.

"Link?" He squinted, reaching clumsily for his glasses. Link's small hands presented them to him.

"It's Christmas," Link said, the same expression still on his face.

"So it is," Gordon laughed. "Why don't you go wait in the living room? We can open presents after breakfast."

"Can I open one before breakfast?" Link asked.

"Sure, we can do the stockings before breakfast."

"Thank you!" Link smiled and scampered out of the room.

Gordon rolled out of his bed and laughed. He missed living with children. Despite all the teenage rebellion and extra food bills, the joy of raising a child outweighed any cost. Well, most children. He never knew what he did wrong with James Jr. He prayed it wouldn't happen again with Ed or Link.

There wasn't a fireplace in Gordon's house, so instead the stockings were hung on the windowsill in the living room. When Ed and Gordon entered the living room to celebrate Christmas with Link, they found Link sitting on the couch, hugging his green and red stocking to his chest, waiting patiently for them to get there.

There wasn't much room for a tree, but Gordon'd managed to rearrange the furniture enough to fit the smallest plastic tree the hardware store sold that still fit presents underneath. He hadn't used a real tree since Poison Ivy turned them killer nearly ten years ago. It was hard to imagine it'd been fifteen years to the day since Batman first took to the rooftops.

"Can I?" Link asked, eagerly squeezing his stocking to his chest.

"Just a moment, son," Gordon said. "I need coffee first."

"Oh, okay," Link pouted.

Ed slumped onto the couch, slouching like there was no tomorrow, and sighing so loud the whole block might've heard it. Unlike Gordon, who always made an effort to be ready for work the moment he was out of bed, sometimes when he was still in bed, Ed was still in his boxers and the black tank top he slept in. He even went so far as to scratch his crotch. At least he felt at home, Gordon frowned. He hadn't missed this part of living with a teenage boy. He hadn't missed much, to be honest.

When he returned, mug of coffee in hand, Link had handed Ed his stocking. Link was really the only one who was excited. But that was as it should be, Gordon supposed. It was also the youngest children who were still excited for the holidays. Gordon was just praying nothing at work would pull him away from this.

Gordon leaned against the doorframe to the kitchen while Link and Ed rummaged all of the small goodies he'd put in their stockings. Ed was easy to buy gifts for, he'd gratefully accept almost any book, so he'd gotten him a few of the classics, like Animal Farm and 1984. There was a sale on fancy collectors editions of George Orwell novels at Barns & Noble. They were also having a sale on Tolkien, but Gordon wasn't sure if Ed would appreciate High Fantasy as much as he would Orwellian. He also bought Ed an iPhone to replace his flip phone, despite Ed's claims that he didn't want one. They were handier than a flip phone.

It was Link that was the problem. All he'd asked for was a puppy. He was content enough with his bike, but Gordon didn't have the foggiest idea what Link was into and he showed little interest in books. He hadn't even talked to Ed about any interests other than chess, and he couldn't think of any chess related paraphernalia that was fitting of Christmas. And a gift card felt too impersonal for a gift from a parent to a child, if one could describe their relationship like that.

They ended up with the generic stocking stuffings, sugary treats and tiny puzzle toys. Gordon's stocking was empty. Barbara was usually the one to fill it, but she'd moved out seven years ago. Once Gordon was certain Link had spoiled his appetite on the candy canes and jelly beans in his stockings and both boys had sufficiently fiddled with their puzzles, Gordon herded them into the kitchen for breakfast; eggs, bacon, pancakes, and peppermint hot chocolate. Link and Ed started throwing mini marshmallows at each other. Gordon hated to stop them from having fun, but it was too early in the morning for a mess.

"Alright, now," Gordon said, collecting the dishes. "I want to save most of the presents for when Barbara gets here in a few hours."

"But I don't wanna wait that long," Link pouted. Link gazed wistfully out the window. "Hey, Ed, wanna build an igloo?"

"Sorry, not built for snow," Ed said, knocking his knee. "Well, I mean, I could have kept the arctic version, but the alloy's harder to transmute, so I didn't."

"You're no fun," Link pouted harder. "And you still won't play chess with me."

"I like liking you and I hate loosing," Ed said.

"Butt face," Link stuck his tongue out at Ed.

"Fart breath," Ed stick his tongue right back.

They filled the next few hours watching Christmas specials on the TV. Gordon was busy in the kitchen getting the lunch and dinner ready. Ed was reading a scientific article about the known multiverse and particle vibrational frequencies. It was written by a scientist named Francisco Ramon.

Link was a little disappointed that, other than the stockings and the special breakfast, so far Christmas had been like any other day. Sure, the TV had some specials on, but Gordon didn't want him watching anything other than the children's versions of Netflix and Hulu. He didn't know how to feel about Gordon treating him like a small child. On one hand, he was a small child, but on the other, he'd seen and done things Gordon could only dream of in his nightmares.

"What's that you got there?" Gordon asked Ed once he was finished in the kitchen. Ed held up the cover. "Interesting?"

"If I could just figure this out, I could transmute myself through the multiverse," Ed said. "Apparently, if you can shift the vibrational frequency of something at the atomic level, you can go to parallel worlds. The Flash can do it. The problem is aim. All I know is my solar system fell through a crack in spacetime, so even if I could figure out my original universe's vibrational frequency, it'd just shift me into empty space."

"That could cause a slight case of death," Gordon pointed out.

"Wow, you're such a genius," Ed snarled sarcastically.

"I didn't get to the top by being an idiot," Gordon smirked, tipping his mug mockingly towards Ed.

Ed grunted. "My biggest problems are that changing the vibrational frequency of living matter with alchemy would probably cause a rebound, which could be fatal. Plus, I don't know where my planet is and I don't know how I would figure out how to land in a specific location in another universe, not to mention that most of space is just empty, and then the parts that aren't usually aren't habitable, so unless I can aim incredibly well or am incredibly lucky, I'm not going anywhere."

"What you need is a navigation system."

"Yeah, but there's nothing anywhere I can find on that. Only hypotheses on how to get to another dimension, nothing's been proven!"

"Well, we got here, so that's proof, right?" Link asked.

"I mean scientifically proven. No one's written anything down about successfully getting to a parallel world on purpose."

"I know there's a Leaguer who can do that, but she wasn't exactly a conventional scientist. She was more interested in Super Mario than the Laws of Thermodynamics. She might have written something, but chances are, if she did, the League will have them under lock and key somewhere."

"Was?"

"She's been presumed dead by the media. No official source, the League won't comment, but no one's seen or heard from her in three years and she was a very prominent figure in social media. She was a habitual tweeter. She'd even tweet good morning and goodnight. Then one day, it just stopped, no explanation, go goodbye tweet. Nothing. Some of her followers even made missing persons reports after a few days of that."

"Ugh," Ed groaned. "I just keep hitting dead ends! This sucks!" Despite it sucking, and despite it being practically a dead end, Ed went back to reading, and was once again lost to the world.

"Do you think he'll ever find it?" Link asked Gordon quietly, knowing Ed could no longer hear him. "Or… or will we get to live here forever?"

"Do you want to stay?"

Link shrugged, his face turning red. "I mean, I… don't want to loose Ed and you're… the nicest grownup I've ever met and I don't… I don't know."

"Have adults been mean to you?"

Link's face turned even redder, and his ears followed suit, but he didn't answer.

"It's not something to be ashamed of, Link," Gordon said sternly. "It's not your fault."

Link curled up and hid behind his knees. Though Gordon's words were kind and sincere, they did nothing to quell Link's fear that if Gordon knew, he would hate him. He'd stop wanting him. He'd stop being so nice.

Gordon sighed. It was worth a shot, he supposed. Link had encroached the subject and he hoped it was an opportunity to get to the bottom of Link's anxieties. Maybe he should take the boys to a therapist, but he didn't think Christmas was the best day of all days to try and bring that up. He wanted them to actually enjoy the holiday.

Link was saved from Gordon trying to delve deeper by the ringing of the doorbell. "I'll get it," Gordon said, placing his mug on the coffee table before going to the door. "Edward, will you put on some pants," Gordon said as he passed by Ed, who was still in his pajamas.

Ed grunted when he heard his name, but made no move to don more appropriate attire for a family gathering.

"Dick, I told you not to ring the doorbell, I have a key," Barbara said as Gordon opened the door. "Dad! Hi!"

"Barb," Gordon gave Barbara a hug. "Any particular reason you're bringing Dick Grayson over for Christmas."

"Dad, we've been dating for almost a year now, you know this."

Gordon grumbled something under his breath and let them in.

"How are my two favorite brothers!" Barbara said cheerily, putting a small pile of presents under the diminutive tree.

"We're your only two brothers," Ed grunted.

"Haha, okay!" Barbara quickly made a B-line for the kitchen, making a face at her father to follow her, leaving Link, Ed, and Dick alone with one another.

Dick sat down on the couch between the two of them, grinning like an idiot. Ed vaguely remembered Tim and Jason talking about their older brother, but Ed didn't know much because he usually just tuned them out, as he did with all things school related. Somehow, he was still an A student.

"What'cha reading?" Dick asked.

Ed did not acknowledge Dick's presence.

"Cool, cool," Dick brushed it off. "What'cha watching?" He turned to Link as soon as Ed gave him the cold shoulder.

Link shrugged. "Cartoon Network. It's just Christmas specials."

"Nice. Mind if I join you?"

Link shrugged again.

Since that wasn't a no, Dick decided to join in. Link found that he was a very loud watcher of TV. It only took Dick a few minutes of comically reacting to the cartoon characters to get Link to start giggling along with him. If Ed hadn't noticed Dick's presence before, he did now. Ed didn't want to be petty, he didn't want to spoil anything that made Link smile, but it still made him mad that Link was giggling and it wasn't with him. Link was his baby brother.

When Gordon returned, Barbara close behind, the first thing he said was, "Edward, for the love of… will you please put on some pants?"

Ed grunted at him and angrily stalked to his room, grateful for an excuse to get away from the elder 'Wayne' who was getting friendly with his baby brother. Those Wayne boys were really starting to get under his skin. First Tim and Jason wouldn't leave him alone at school and now their older brother was here, in his house. The nerve of them.

"When Ed gets back, can we open presents?" Link asked.

"We still have to wait for Harvey to get here."

"If Uncle Harv gets here," Barbara laughed. "Oh, come on, Dad. Let him open his presents."

Link was still timid to push his luck, but if he hadn't've been, Gordon could see in his eyes that he'd be begging.

"Oh, alright," Gordon sighed, giving in. They'd teamed up on him. You'd think they grew up knowing that trick.

"Yay!" Link practically leaped off the couch, and grabbed the closest present with his name on it. He could recognize it because, despite not knowing how to read, he could recognize his name from the place on his desk in school, and he knew none of them said 'From Link' because he hadn't gotten anyone anything.

As soon as Ed returned, this time with pants, Link made to tare open the wrapping.

"Wait, Barb, can you record this, or something?" Gordon asked. "I can't figure out my phone."

"Pfft," Barbara playfully shoved her dad. "You're such a geezer." Geezer or no, she still took out her phone.

"Can I open it now?" Link whined.

"Go ahead, it's recording."

Impatiently, Link ripped off the wrapping, then he tore open the little cardboard box. It was a stuffed toy, but it didn't look like other stuffed toys. This one was in the shape of a bone and looked like it was designed to be chewed on. At first, he was confused, then a lightbulb when off in his head. He looked to Gordon for confirmation, his face filled with glee and hope.

"I figured you could give that to your new puppy," Gordon said.

"Thank you!" Link jumped off the couch and slammed into Gordon, wrapping his arms around him. He'd never hugged anyone before, but he was so caught up in his excitement, Link was hugging Gordon before he had to time to decide to hug him.

"You're welcome, son," Gordon laughed, ruffling Link's hair.

"Ed!" Link jumped from Gordon right to his brother, knocking the wind out of him, too. "Look!" He practically shoved the toy into Ed's face. He had the biggest grin Ed had ever seen on him. Ed thought seeing Link happy would make his day, but it just made him miserable.

Despite his twisting heart, Ed grinned and said, "Pretty great!" He too ruffled Link's hair.

Link rode the high from that present for the rest of the day. He was so happy, he completely forgot about everything that made him sad. When Bullock popped in to wish his old partner and closest friend a merry Christmas, Link took all of Bullocks time marveling over how awesome it was gonna be to have a puppy. It was all he could talk about. He didn't think he'd spoken that much in one day in his entire life.

Later, after dinner and after Dick and Barbara left, Ed offered to help Gordon clean the dishes. Usually Ed refused outright to do chores, so Gordon was pleased for the help. Link offered to help too, but Ed talked him out of it and told him to go and think of some names for his future dog. Link was too happy to question it, but Gordon wasn't.

After five minutes of Gordon cleaning and Ed drying, Ed said what was on his mind. "What happened to not being able to afford the both of us and a dog?"

"That was more of an excuse to see if he'd stop asking," Gordon laughed. "Link's responsible, I trust he can take care of a dog without too much help. And besides, if he needs any help, I'm sure he'd turn to you first."

"Yeah, because I'm the one who bought him a puppy," Ed snarled sarcastically. "He'll definitely like me more now."

"Is that what this is about?" Gordon snapped, putting down the plate. "Which one of us is his favorite? I thought you were better than that."

"It's not…" Ed grumbled. "I am! It's just… if… if you keep going around, buying his love with puppies and shit, he might… he might not want to stay with me and I'm… I'm tired of losing the people I care about, one way or another. I can't… I just…" Ed took a deep breath. "I can't lose him, too."

"Edward, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to separate you. That's the last thing I want."

"Yeah, whatever," Ed tossed the dishrag onto the counter. He looked like he wanted to say something more, but he didn't. He left Gordon to finish cleaning the dishes alone.

Ed found Link sitting on the couch, playing on the Wii U Gordon bought for both of them. He figured they could pass the time with it, as long as they did their homework first and promised not to play past ten. Ed sat down on the couch next to Link.

"Room for another player?" Ed asked.

"Yeah," Link handed Ed the game pad and grabbed one of the remotes. "Can you do voices for the characters?" Link asked.

"Sure, I can try," Ed smirked, playfully elbowing Link. "Come up with any cool names for your dog?"

"No, I was thinking of naming the puppy after I get it, so that I can give it the right name."

"That's smart. Don't want to name a dog Spot if it doesn't have any."

"Yeah."

"Link," Ed said, his voice growing heavy. "Do you think… the longer we're here the harder it will be to leave?"

"Oh… uh…" Link fidgeted. "I dunno. Do… do you think he'll let us take my dog with us when we leave?"

"I don't see why not," Ed answered, relieved that Link wasn't even thinking of not going with Ed. "It's gonna be your dog, not his."

"Yeah, but, aren't we his kids?"

"Who told you that‽"

"N… no one," Link mumbled. "I just thought that… you know… since he adopted us…"

"That was just so the foster system wouldn't separate us. We're not his kids."

"He calls me son, though."

"He calls a lot of boys your age 'son'. That's just what old people do," Ed snapped. "It doesn't mean anything. It's not like he cares."

"He doesn't?" Link whimpered.

Ed faltered. He forgot that Link believed everything he said. He couldn't tell when Ed was just angry and venting bull to try and calm down. But Link might start liking Gordon more than him, and to his horror, he didn't stop. "Of course he doesn't actually care. We're the only one's who're gonna look out for us in the long run. We've got to stick together."

"Oh," Link said. He stopped paying attention to the game. He sounded crushed. "But… what about the puppy? Why would he get me a puppy if he doesn't care?"

"He's probably just doing it to shut you up. I mean, you've been asking him nonstop for almost a month. That's gotta get annoying."

"I…" Link choked on his words. "I didn't mean to… I didn't… I thought he was okay with it? He wasn't getting mad. I thought… oh," Link sniffled quietly.

Ed felt like scum.

"How… how much longer do you think we'll be here?" Link asked softly, between sniffles.

"I dunno, a couple more months, maybe," Ed shrugged, doing his best to focus on the screen and not Link's crestfallen face. He hated how he felt, but he couldn't go back now. He'd already said it and the subject had already been changed. "I think I'm getting close to testing. I'm gonna write a message to Al in the code our old man wrote his old notes in and send a bunch of them to other universes. Each one is going to have a number on it and the vibrational frequency of this universe. Whichever one Al gets, he'll send a note back. I'll know it's him because he knows the code."

"Couldn't someone break the code?"

"No, the note won't be long enough. And alchemists are famous for hiding their notes in plain sight. To a normal person, it'll look like a piece of a recipe book, but Al will recognize it."

"What if he doesn't find any of them?"

"Then I'll try again. I'll keep trying until he answers or I find a better way. I'm getting us home, I promise."

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	26. Pupper Lovin'

**Chapter 26**

 **Pupper Lovin'**

* * *

New Years came and went. Gordon didn't spend that holiday with Ed and Link. He had a different tradition for the turn of the New Year. He came home at two in the morning. He found Ed and Link sitting in front of the TV, Gotham News Network on mute. The two boys were sleeping in each other's arms. Link was curled against Ed, his little fists clenched on Ed's shirt. And Ed had both arms wrapped protectively around his little brother. It was very sweet. They both looked so peaceful knowing the other was safe in their arms.

Gordon hated to wake them, but he preferred they slept in their own beds and he was much too old to carry either of them to bed. He might have managed Link, but, with Ed terrified that Link would end up choosing Gordon over him, Gordon didn't want to risk acting too fatherly to Link in front of the elder boy. Instead, he gently shook them both awake.

"Time for bed, boys," he said, grabbing the remote to turn off the TV.

"I thought we were bed?" Link mumbled groggily.

"No, this is the couch," Gordon laughed, gently ruffling Link's hair. "Did you brush your teeth?"

"Like you care," Ed growled, still half asleep.

"Edward, we've talked about this," Gordon said sternly. "Now, we've got to get up early tomorrow to pick a dog from the shelter, remember?"

"Um, actually," Link mumbled. "I… I changed my mind."

"What?" Gordon deadpanned.

"I… I don't want a dog anymore," Link said.

"What happened? You were so excited before?"

"I know," Link said. "It's just… you were just trying to shut me up, right?" Ed felt his gut twist in a knot, but he didn't say anything. "I wasn't trying to annoy you."

"At what point did I make you think that?" Gordon said. "I never meant for you to think that. Link, it wasn't annoying. Lots of children ask for a dog. Even kids who already have one ask for a second one."

"I know. I mean… I want the dog but… not if… not if it was just because I never stopped asking."

"Link, you never stopped asking because you never stopped wanting a dog, right?"

"I suppose."

"That just shows me you care. Now, come on, get to bed. We've got a big day tomorrow. You're getting that damn dog whether you still want one or not. I didn't get you that present just to make you happy for one day. I did it to get to you something you really want."

"Oh," Link said. It sounded like Gordon cared, but Ed said he didn't. Ed couldn't have been lying to him. Link's head was starting to hurt. Why couldn't people be as simple as a puzzle cube?

* * *

The next morning, Gordon woke them both up for breakfast. Link was starting to have a harder time waking up in the morning. Gordon was taking them to the animal shelter just outside of Metropolis instead of Gotham because he worked a case a few years ago where an escaped test animal had been mistaken for a normal cat and put up for adoption at the Gotham animal shelter. It mutated into a bloodthirsty bat monster and partially ate one of the children, around Link's age. Of course, he didn't tell them his exact reasons, the crime scene had been gruesome. He didn't want to scare them.

Despite how excited Link had been and how eagerly he'd asked for a dog, he was just miserable in the back seat. He was clutching the dog toy to his chest and staring wistfully out the window, but he wasn't excited. Gordon couldn't tell what was wrong. Even Ed, who was sitting in the front for the first time with Link in the car, looked upset. Gordon was worried.

"What happened," he asked Ed, quiet enough that Link couldn't hear him.

"What?"

"You're both miserable. Why?"

"No reason. There's nothing wrong."

"Then why does Link look like that. I know he usually looks sad, but he was overjoyed a few days ago, and now he just looks crushed."

"That's just the way he looks."

"Something happened."

"No, it didn't," Ed snarled.

Gordon sighed. "I'm only trying to help."

"Sure," Ed grunted. "How much longer?"

"Five minutes," Gordon said. He looked in the rearview mirror at Link. "Hear that, Link? We'll be there in five minutes."

Link's only answer was a long, sad sigh.

He was trying so hard to fit what Ed had told him to everything he'd learned about Gordon. Ed wouldn't lie to him, he knew that. But Gordon wasn't acting like someone who was just giving him something as an alternative to hitting him. People hit him when they were annoyed with him. They didn't give him puppies. So either Gordon was only giving him the puppy so that he could use it to hurt him later or Ed was lying and Gordon did care.

Maybe Ed didn't believe that Gordon cared about them, but he actually did care. That would mean Ed wasn't lying and Gordon wasn't doing this to hurt Link. But Ed was really smart. He'd know if Gordon cared, wouldn't he? Link squeezed the dog toy harder to his chest. This was making his head hurt. He wished Ed hadn't told him Gordon didn't care.

For a few brief hours, Link felt like he had a father and a brother. He felt like Gordon loved him. He'd never felt like that before. And then Ed came along and stepped on it like it was a bug. Couldn't he have at least left it alone and let Link feel happy, even if it was in ignorance. Why'd he have to ruin it?

"We're here," Gordon said, pulling into the parking lot. The Metropolitan skyline sparkled in the distance. Link could almost imagine seeing Superman zooming around the buildings. Link followed Ed and Gordon onto the building, still holding the toy to his chest. Gingerly, Link reached up and held Ed's hand. Ed gave his hand a light squeeze.

Inside the shelter it was loud and smelled like wet dog. Almost all the dogs were barking in the back. Link forgot to bring his Mask of Truth to help him pick a dog, but he supposed if Gordon didn't mean this, it didn't really matter anyway.

"Hello, we'd like to adopt a dog," Gordon said to the lady at the front. Her entire face lit up.

"Would you like to see our dogs or look at the papers first?"

"Link?" Gordon turned to Link. "Do you want to see the dogs?"

Link shrugged.

Gordon sighed. "We'll take a look at the dogs," he said.

"Right this way, gentlemen!" The woman grinned. "We have twenty dogs for adoption at the moment. They're all ready to go to their forever home." She lead them to the kennels in the back. There were twenty pens for the dogs, ten on the left and ten on the right. "I'm sure one of them is perfect for you."

The dogs ranged from big pawed puppies to gray muzzled dogs, tiny to large, mutt to purebred. Some were lazing around, some were barking, some spun in circles when they passed. But one caught Link's attention, an awkward puppy in a pen near the back. She was almost pure white with a pale red, almost pink ear, a single reddish spot on her right side, and one blue eye and one deformed pink eye. Link knelt down in front of the door and she tilted her head up to look at him.

"Hello," Link whispered to her, gripping the chain link of the door

She rose to her feet shakily and limped over to him. She only had three legs. When she reached him she licked his fingers and nuzzled at him through the chain link gate with her pink, wet nose.

"I like this one," Link said quietly.

"That's Pinkie," the woman said. "She's a purebred double merle rough collie. Someone hit her on the highway. We think she's from a puppy mill. The owner must have dumped her on the side of the road. She's partially deaf and blind in her right eye and she lost her front left leg when she was hit, but she's just as happy as any other dog. She's about five months old."

"I like her, too," Ed said.

"Do you want to play with her?" The woman asked.

Link nodded.

The women opened the pen and let Link inside. Link sat down in the middle of the pen and Pinkie brought him her toys and then sat in his lap, licking his face. Link giggled. He ran his hands through her long, soft, white coat and rubbed her incredibly soft, floppy ears. She squeaked with glee and wagged her tail against his leg.

Gordon sighed. "How big will she get?" He asked.

"She's a big puppy, so we think about fifty five pounds."

"How much do collies shed?"

"A lot," the woman said. "But they only need to be brushed once a week. Most people think it's more often than that because of how fluffy they get."

"How much exercise does she need?"

"Collies aren't a high energy breed, and since she's purebred, it's easier to predict. She won't need rigorous running to be happy. Just walks and play. And her three legs won't slow her down. She just as full of love as any other dog. I can recommend some dogs books if you're worried."

"Can I have her?" Link asked. "Even though she'll shed?"

"Link, if I wanted to get you a dog that you didn't have to walk, clean up after, or brush, I'd have gotten you a stuffed toy. Is there a waiting period or can we take her home today?"

"You can take her home today!" The woman said. She opened the pen back up and put Pinkie on a lead. "You're going home, Pinkie!" She said happily. Pinkie was very happy. "Are you going to give her a new name?"

Link nodded. "Pinkie doesn't sound like her name," he said. "Can I hold the leash?" He asked.

"Of course," the woman handed Link the lead.

Pinkie walked right on Link's heals, looking up at him with her tongue lolling out happily.

"You're a good girl," Link smiled down at her. He reached down and handed her the dog toy Gordon got for him. She held it in her mouth and followed them back into the lobby.

"There's a fifty dollar adoption fee and we also sell travel crates," the woman said. "And we have some pamphlets on puppy schools in both the Metropolis and Gotham areas."

"Does she know any tricks already?"

"She knows some touch. She doesn't always respond to vocal commands, since she's deaf in her right ear. But she's always watching for hand signals. Here, let me show you." The woman knelt down in front of Pinkie and held out a hand. "Touch," she said.

Pinkie pushed her nose into the woman's hand and then looked up at her expectantly.

"Good girl, Pinkie," the woman gave Pinkie a treat from her pocket. "Do you want to try?"

Link nodded. The woman handed him a treat and he mimicked her trick, giving it to Pinkie when she rammed her nose enthusiastically into Links hand and then licked the treat out of his hand. Link giggled happily.

"Her nose is wet and cold!" He marveled, petting her head happily.

He didn't care if he didn't understand why Gordon was letting him have a puppy even after he annoyed him so much, or what was going on between Ed and their surrogate father. All he cared about was he had a puppy and she was the best dog ever.

Gordon filled out all the papers handed to him. Hearing Link giggling and seeing the look of joy on his face was worth the fifty dollar adoption fee and it was worth the inevitable vet bills and dog food bills. Even if he ended up having to do most of the work, giving Link something that made him this happy justified all the potential extra work it meant for him.

They bought a large wire and cloth travel crate, a home crate, and a slip lead. The crates were all too big for a small puppy, but she'd grow into them. He planned on getting her a chip instead of a collar, since he read that collars can cause matting which can cause infection and pulling and he didn't want to risk Link neglecting to brush her. He wanted to make this as easy for Link as possible, because if Link couldn't take care of the dog, he'd have to take the dog away and that would crush Link.

Link continued to hold the dog's lead while they brought her to the car. She sniffed every little thing in the parking lot and Link had a grin from ear the ear, letting her lead him around and sniff and snort everything that smelled nice. Gordon had to remind Link to get her into the travel crate.

On their way to PetSmart, the mood was much different. Whatever had been bothering Link and Ed was pushed to the back of Link's mind, at least, though Ed was still glaring out the window. Link had opened the traveling crate and was playing with his new puppy. He was supposed to keep the crate closed, but he was so happy, Gordon didn't want to ruin it by making him stop.

"What are you going to name her?" Gordon asked.

Link shrugged. "Not Pinkie," he answered.

"She's pretty white," Gordon offered. "How about Alma? That's white in Latin."

"Alba is white," Ed corrected. "Alma means nourishing."

"What, do you speak Latin or something?"

"Yes, as fluently as I speak English. And I think Luna is a better name."

"What's that mean?" Link asked.

"Moon. It's a pretty common name."

"I don't like the moon," Link frowned, an image of that terrifying face looming flashed in his mind, sending a shiver down his spine. "Alma sounds nice, though."

Ed grumbled something under his breath and slouched in the seat, crossing his arms. Link noticed Ed's anger and shifted sadly in his own seat.

"How about Alma Luna?" Link compromised. "That's both names and I think it sounds pretty." Link wasn't going to use the Luna, since it spooked him, but it made Ed less upset.

"That's a nice name," Gordon smiled at Link, who was still petting Alma in her crate. He'd miss them if they found a way home.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	27. Swiper no Swiping

**Chapter 27**

 **Swiper no Swiping**

* * *

Gordon had no problems with the newest addition to his small but growing family; Link made sure of that. He worked tirelessly to house train, leash train, and obedience train her. He focused on heal and leave it. As well as crate training her and keeping her off the furniture. If it was anything that made her less of a hassle to Gordon he made it a priority. The last thing he wanted was to lose her or make Gordon angry.

But he still couldn't read and that was his biggest problem. He was good at stealing the multiple choice and true and false questions and then memorizing them and put them back before anyone knew. He thought he was doing fine. He asked the teacher and he was passing. While he couldn't recognize words, and he didn't think he ever would, a C meant he was passing and it was getting at least that in every class. According to his winter report card, anyway.

It had turned into a routine. The teacher announced a test, Link broke into the classroom to steal the test answers, memorize them, break into the classroom a second time to put them back, take the test, get a C in the course because he still couldn't answer the essay questions, do most of the homework, or do the reading. Still, no one suspected. No one thought less of him. No one hit him.

It was a day after a test on the Holy Crusades when Mr. Sanchez stopped Link before he could leave for chess club. Link knew the first rule of pulling a scam like his was to never suspect they were on to you, because then you'd never act suspicious.

"Link, do you have a moment?" Mr. Sanchez asked him as he packed his bag.

Link looked up at him expectantly.

"Link, I need to have a chat with you and your dad. Do you know when he's picking you up?"

"I usually walk to my brother's work after chess club and he picks us both up from there," Link said. "And… he's not my dad. I'm adopted."

"Yes, well, I knew that. It was just easier, I suppose. I'll call him to pick you up here instead of at your brother's work and we can talk then. I'll wait here, alright?"

"I guess that's okay. He's usually late, though. He's really busy."

"I'll be sure to tell him it's important."

"Okay," Link said.

He left for chess club, but as soon as he was out the door, he allowed himself to worry. Had the teacher found him out? How had the teacher found him out? He had been so careful. He didn't want Gordon to know just how stupid he was. He shoved his fear down again and let chess take over for the next hour.

When chess club was over, Gordon texted him, but due to the nature of his disadvantage, he couldn't read it. He assumed it was something about Mr. Sanchez and decided to swing by his classroom just to be sure. He was hoping Gordon would be busy, like he usually was, but when he looked into the class room, he found Gordon and Mr. Sanchez sitting at Mr. Sanchez's desk.

"Ah, Link," Mr. Sanchez said when he saw him. "There you are."

"Was chess club fun?" Gordon asked.

"Um, yes," Link mumbled, awkwardly entering the class room. He hated talking to the teacher when he was standing or sitting at his desk. It reminded him of… he didn't want to think about what it reminded him off. It made his scars hurt. It was only made worse by Gordon's presence.

"So, you wanted to talk to the two of us?" Gordon asked.

"Yes, I have made a troubling discovery."

Link paled.

"Link, would you sit down, please?" Mr. Sanchez motioned to the vacant seat.

Link sat down next to Gordon. His hands were shaking. He felt like his whole body was shaking. He wasn't doing well enough in any of his classes for Mr. Sanchez to call Gordon out of work to speak to him. The only thing he was doing worthy of such an occasion as a parent, teacher, student conference was cheating on his tests. He felt like he was going to be sick.

"Am I in trouble?" Link squeak.

"I'm afraid so, Link," Mr. Sanchez frowned.

Gordon heaved a deep sigh. First Ed, now Link. He's hoped Link would be the angelic child of the two, but he supposed no one was perfect. Whatever it was, it didn't seem like a fight, so that was something.

"What's he done?" Gordon asked.

"I'm afraid I have discovered that Link has been cheating on all of his tests."

Gordon let out another deep, disappointed sigh. Link cringed in his seat.

"All of them?" Gordon asked. He'd almost prefer fighting.

"Every single one."

"Christ," Gordon hissed.

Link flinched.

"How… how did you find this out?"

"I started to suspect this last semester when I was going over the class's grades. Link failed most of his homework assignments and never answered the essay questions but he got all of the multiple choice and true false questions spot on. I planted a decoy answer sheet in my desk for the latest test. Link's test answers matched the decoy perfectly."

Link felt nauseous. He hadn't thought of that.

"Link, is this true?" Gordon sounded so disappointed it made Link's gut twist.

Link nodded shamefully. "I'm sorry," he sniffled.

"I'm afraid he can no longer attend chess club," Mr. Sanchez said. "I'd prefer we keep this between us for now, but if he cheats again, I will have to alert the principal. If he cheats after that, he'll be expelled. I'll leave the rest to you, Mr. Gordon."

"I'll be sure to talk to him," Gordon said. "Come on, Link. I'm taking you home."

Link followed Gordon out of the room like dog with its tail between its legs. He was practically dragging his feet. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't stop cheating or he'd fail his classes but he couldn't study for the test because he couldn't read and as far as he knew, they only knew about the cheating. He couldn't let them know about the reading, too.

In the car, Link sulked. Gordon fumed. Neither wanted to talk first. Gordon, being the adult, decided to take initiative.

"I expected bad behavior from Edward, but you?" Gordon looked at Link in the rearview mirror. "I thought you were better than this."

"I'm sorry," Link mumbled again.

"Why? Why would you do this?"

Link shrugged.

Gordon didn't know what to do. Punishment could trigger some sort of PTSD in Link he didn't know about, but letting it slide wouldn't guarantee it never happened again. "What am I going to do with you?" He sounded angry, but he meant it as a question.

"Please don't take Alma away, please," Link cried.

"Link, I'm not taking your dog away," Gordon sighed. "I should, but I won't."

"Thank you," Link sniffled.

"I'm very disappointed in you," Gordon said sternly.

Link sniffled some more, but didn't mutter an apology this time.

Gordon sighed, "Why? And answer me this time."

"I don't know," Link mumbled.

"You're really not going to tell me?"

Link shook his head. He couldn't. He didn't want Gordon know.

They spent the rest of the drive in silence. Link wallowing and sniffling and Gordon looking forward, trying to brainstorm ideas on how to punish Link. He supposed grounding Link would work, since Link already knew that didn't come with starving, but he was already suspended from chess club and, like Ed, he hadn't made any friends. Extra chores wouldn't work, since Link practically volunteered for extra chores, just to try and stay on Gordon's good side. Not that he needed it.

By the time they pulled into the garage, Gordon's train of thought had drifted from ways to prevent this from happening again and into the territory of why it had happened in the first place. With Link not talking, he had to use the other evidence to draw a conclusion. Link hadn't answered the essay questions, and now that he thought about it, he'd never actually seen Link with a textbook or doing his homework. He still needed to test his hypothesis.

When they got inside, Alma started barking from her crate in the living room. Gordon let Link go and let her out and he prepared his test. He pulled out his yellow notepad and pen which he kept on him in the event that he needed to jot some evidence down. The younger cops would make fun of him if they knew, but he preferred paper and pen over his phone. He didn't care if the notes app looked like his notepad, it felt fake. He wrote down 'the rain in Spain falls gently on the plain' and then called Link back into the kitchen.

Link approached him hesitantly, Alma right on his heals, jamming her ever elongating nose into his hands, pockets, and rear, trying to illicit a treat out of her boy. Link looked like he was scared of Gordon.

"Link, can you tell me what this says?" Gordon handed Link the notepad.

Link turned pale again and looked at the notepad for a good minute before he answered, "I don't know."

"Link, can you read?"

"I don't know," Link looked down at his feet in shame. He knew Gordon knew, avoiding the question was pointless, but he couldn't help himself.

"Link, what was the literacy rate where you're from?" Gordon knew Link wasn't from Earth, but that was the extent of his knowledge on the matter. Maybe he came from a place where literacy wasn't common.

Link shrugged and mumbled, "I dunno."

He supposed it was worth a shot. "Why didn't you tell me sooner, Link?" Gordon felt hurt, though he knew Link never told him anything. "Does Edward know?"

Link shook his head. "Are… are you going to hit me?" Link whispered.

"What?" Gordon's gut twisted with anger. If he ever came across the bastard that made Link so scared of everyone, Gordon'd give him a taste of his own medicine. "Of course not! Link, I would never hurt you. You know that by now, don't you? Why would you think I'd hurt you?"

Link shrugged. "I did something really bad and now you know that I'm stupid and I thought that… I don't know. Usually I get beat after something like this."

"Link, you're not stupid."

"But I can't read."

"That doesn't mean you're stupid, it simply means you're illiterate. There's nothing… that's something that we can fix. You're a very smart boy, you learned how to play chess like a master in a few hours, you can learn how to read."

"But… I can't," Link said. "It's too hard."

"Link, when you try to read, do the letters move around?"

Link shook his head.

"When was the last time you tried to read?"

"Two years ago. I couldn't do it."

"How long did you try? Was anyone teaching you?"

Link shook his head. "I only had a couple days."

"Well, no wonder you thought it was too hard," Gordon couldn't help but laugh with relief. "Link, reading isn't something you can teach yourself in a few days. Hell, it's practically impossible to teach yourself how to read. It's a communication skill, you need someone who already knows how."

"Oh," Link mumbled sheepishly. "I didn't know that. Am… am I still in trouble? For stealing the tests answers?"

Gordon frowned. He didn't want to punish Link, since he was only trying to hide something he was afraid would not only change Gordon's opinion of him, but earn him a beating as well. If he punished him, Link might be deterred from telling Gordon when he was having problems in the future. But he couldn't let him get away with stealing, even if he had reasonable motive.

"I think losing chess club is enough for now. We'll replace it with a private tutor to teach you how to read."

"Okay," Link said. "I don't want Ed to know."

"We won't tell him if you don't want to. And Link," Gordon gently put a hand on Link's shoulder. When Link didn't flinch away, he continued. "If you're ever having trouble, with anything, you can tell me. I won't be mad at you if you're struggling to understand something or you feel overwhelmed. I'm here for you, Link. I want to help you."

"Okay," Link looked down at his feet and wrung his hands together. "Can I play with Alma in the backyard?"

"Of course you can," Gordon ruffled Link's hair. "Don't forget your coat."

"I won't," Link said. He was finally smiling again.

Gordon watched from dining room while Link and Alma play in the snow. Gordon wished Link's teacher had caught him sooner, if only so that Link could have received help sooner. He supposed in the end, what mattered was Link was going to receive the help he needed and he trusted Gordon a little more. With any luck, this was another step towards Gordon helping Link heal from whatever traumas he'd been through.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	28. Deus ex Fax Machina

**Chapter 28**

 **Deus ex Fax Machina**

* * *

Like Link, Ed didn't want a birthday party. He didn't even want a cake. He claimed he wouldn't have a birthday cake until he could share it with Alphonse. It'd been over half a year since Ed and Link were abducted, and six months since Gordon took them in. Link was started to get used to the idea that he had someone looking out for him that he didn't also have to look out for. He loved having a brother, but having a father was much less stressful. It could also just be having Ed for a brother, but he had no way of knowing. Facsimile

Link was already reading at a first grade level, which was pretty impressive since he'd only been reading for less than a month. He could even do his homework on his own, as long as his tutor or Gordon helped him when he got stuck. Learning how to read made him feel like he could accomplish anything.

Ed finally got his license, and as soon as Gordon brought him back from the DMV, he went on Craigslist to find a used car. Gordon, however, took the computer from him when he recognized the plates of a stolen car. Gordon ended up commandeering Ed's search for a car, just to make sure Ed didn't buy a stolen vehicle or a car used to smuggle drugs or their dealers. As much as Ed hated it when Gordon held his hand on anything, he did appreciate the extra help in avoiding the very large, very active criminal underside of Gotham.

In the end, he settled on a banged up, rust eaten 1966 Plymouth Fury Convertible from a guy a few blocks away from their house. It barely made the trip from the sellers garage to their driveway. It used to be red, but the paint was so faded and rusted it could have been any color. Since it was such a fixer upper, it only cost Ed two and half thousand dollars, cash. He still had over seven hundred left over, mostly from overtime. Gordon helped oversee the deal, since he never trusted someone who insisted on cash for anything over a hundred dollars.

Ed was very happy with the car. He was as happy with his car as Link was with Alma.

"It's a real fixer upper," Gordon said as the three of them gave the car a look over. The top wouldn't go up and one of the wheels was loose.

"It's clunky," Link said. "And rusty."

"Yeah, well, it won't be when I'm done fixing it," Ed said. "I've been reading about car engineering in my spare time. When I'm done, it'll be better than it was when it came off the line."

"Rust Clunker," Link said after a moment of thought, having completely ignored Ed's boasting. He usually tuned Ed out when he was boasting.

"What?" Ed asked.

"I'm gonna call it the Rust Clunker," Link answered.

"But won't be rusty or clunky when I'm done!" Ed protested.

"It's too late. You named my dog, so I get to name your car."

"I don't like Rust Clunker."

"I don't like Luna."

"You don't even call her that!"

"You don't have to call it Rust Clunker."

"Ugh, whatever. Naming a car is lame, anyway."

Ed clapped his hands together and a minute later, everything he bragged about came true. The rust faded and the holes in the metal filled, the convertible mechanisms twisted back into their place, the mold on the cover evaporated, and the paint turned a brilliant shade of red again. The car sparkled in the sunlight.

Gordon whistled in astonishment. "That car does not look fifty years old."

"Link, wanna go for a ride with top down?" Ed smirked at his little brother.

"Can Alma come?"

"Sure, but you gotta hold on to her, I don't want her to jump out and get hurt."

"Can I sit in the front?" Link asked, his excitement growing.

"Sure."

"Yes!" Link jumped up and ran inside to get Alma.

"I want you two back in half an hour and I don't want you leaving the island or going to the warehouse district, got it?" Gordon said.

"Why?" Ed challenged.

"Because dinner's in half an hour and I don't like the idea of you driving around Gotham with the hood down. It's dangerous. And I don't want you driving past sunset, especially with the hood down."

"Fine," Ed grumbled. He hated it when Gordon was right, but no one in their right mind or on the right side of the law drove around Gotham after dark. When the sun set, the streets belonged to the criminals, the police, and, most of all, the Batman.

"Let's go! Let's go!" Link jumped out of the house with Alma Luna right on his heals, barking excitedly and trying to jump up and lick his face. Link grabbed Ed's sleeve and pulled him towards the car.

"Alright, alright," Ed laughed. "Slow down. There's plenty of time for speeding when we're in the car."

"So help me, Edward, if you get a ticket on your first day in that car, I'm impounding it."

"Not literally speeding! I meant going fast!" Ed groaned in exasperation.

"You'd better," Gordon teased. "Have fun, you two."

Gordon watched Ed pull out of the driveway. The engine had a deep, clunking putter. It was an improvement to the puttering clunks of before, and it sounded just as it should. The 1966 Plymouth Fury did not purr, but neither did Ed. Ed picked a good car. Link cheered as they drove down the road, the wind whipped through their hair, and Alma howled with excitement.

* * *

That night, Link couldn't sleep. It was often that he couldn't sleep, but it was also often that going over to Ed's bed and cuddling next to his brother calmed him down enough and made him feel safe enough to sleep. In the event that even that didn't work, he found that going into the living room and giving Alma a hug and then returning to Ed's bed fixed the problem. But tonight, as he stared up at the ceiling, he knew nothing would get him to sleep. He didn't want to sleep. He didn't feel well.

It was the same feeling he used to get right before he had nightmares about Ganondorf, before everything, when he was still living in Kokiri Forest. That was almost three years ago. Usually it felt like all of that had happened lifetimes ago and to someone else. At that moment, it felt like only yesterday. Something was wrong.

Something was coming.

"Ed, are you awake?" Link asked.

Ed groaned something sleepily.

"Okay," Link sighed.

"What is it?" Ed mumbled, pushing himself into a sitting position. "Can't sleep?"

"No," Link said. "I don't want to sleep tonight."

"What's wrong?"

"Do you think… we can go somewhere in the car?"

"Sure, we can go wherever you want to in the morning."

"No, I mean, right now," Link said.

"Link, it's too late to go anywhere."

"Oh," Link frowned. "What if it's an emergency?"

"What, you need to drive to the bathroom?"

"No that kind of emergency," Link snapped.

"Just go to bed, Link. I don't want to drive around Gotham at night. It's not safe. That's when we got kidnapped, remember? Bad things happen at night in Gotham."

"Yeah, but…"

"No, Link, it's too dangerous, just go to sleep," Ed curled back into his blankets. "Goodnight."

"Fine," Link grumbled. "'Night."

Link knew what would happen if he slept, but he didn't want to be tired the next morning. He was brave and it would only be a dream. He'd wake up and he'd be back in his bed with Gordon cooking them breakfast and Alma licking his face and everything would be fine. He was safe in his bed. Ganondorf couldn't get him here.

* * *

Link was standing on the tops of a giant tower. It only took him a few moments to realize he was dreaming. He half expected a battle, for something to jump out at him, but all he saw was a woman, meditating a little ways of. He walked over to her and waved his hand in her face, but she was concentrating heavily on something else and wasn't aware of his presence. She was wearing full leather armor with a hood and a mask, so Link couldn't tell anything else about her, and since she was sitting, it was hard to tell how tall she was. All he could tell was that she was very weak. She was flickering in and out of existence, and hissing in pain and exertion every time she flickered back.

After he tried, and failed, to get her attention, he decided to look around for other things. Whatever she was doing, she couldn't be disturbed. He walked to the edge of the tower and peered over the railing. They were miles in the air. It made Link nauseous.

He couldn't see much of the land around the base of the tower, but when he looked up at the sky, he was met with a peculiar sight. There was a planet about ten mile above them, shrouded in clouds, smoke, and flame, and beyond that, there was a moon, a few more planets, and a star. Link wondered if it was Amestris.

He continued to wander around, until he found two magic windows a little ways off from the woman. Intrigued, he looked into one. To his surprise, the windows were looking at Earth. He couldn't tell where, but they were labeled for ease of use by the creator. Link, proud of his knew skill, sounded out the label to one.

"Mon… truh… montra…" it took him a few minutes but he got it eventually. "Montreal, Quebec, Canada," he read to himself. "I know where that is."

He was about to move to the second one when a thundering clap echoed around him and he flinched. He recognized that sound. It filled him with dread. He quickly hid behind something, lest Ganondorf catch him snooping where he didn't belong.

The woman was gone, and the dream faded.

* * *

The next morning, Ed woke up before Link. He found Link shivering, tangled in his blankets, whimpering.

"Link, kid, wake up," Ed shook Link awake.

Link awoke with a start and sharp intake of breath. He was covered in a cold sweat. "Ed?" Link whispered hoarsely.

"No, I'm Batman," Ed joked.

"Haha," Link rolled his eyes.

"It's not often I wake up before you."

"We have to go to Quebec," Link said. "It's an emergency."

"That's in Canada. We don't have passports. Hell, I don't think we even have green cards. We'd have to hop the boarder, kid."

"We have to," Link insisted. "It's important."

"How about breakfast, then we talk about running away to Canada."

"We don't have to run away!" Link protested. "We're coming back!"

"Alright, we'll talk after breakfast. I'm hungry."

"Fine," Link grumbled.

They got dressed and joined Gordon in the kitchen, where they both sat at the island and awaited their plate of eggs.

"Sleep well?" Gordon asked.

"Like a baby," Ed yawned.

Link shook his head.

"Well I didn't get a wink. You didn't hear the fax machine acting up?"

"No," Ed said.

Link shook his head again.

"It was spitting out nonsensical gibberish for hours. I tried everything. The Geek Squad's coming over to fix it, so don't be surprised when the doorbell rings."

"Alright," Ed shrugged him off.

While Link chewed on his eggs, he wondered if he should ask Gordon if he'd take him to Canada. But Ed was right, they didn't have passports, and he needed to get there as quickly as possible if he was going to find out why Ganondorf of all people was spying on it. There was no way Gordon would help him hop a boarder. If he wanted to get there, he'd have to convince Ed or find a way there by himself. At least he didn't have to worry about school because of ski week.

"I'm gonna take Alma out."

"Edward, why don't you go with him?"

Ed, like usual, considered answering with 'make me, old man!' but he decided against it because he wanted to spend time with Link anyway. That didn't stop him from grumbling about it the whole way out the door, however.

Link leash trained Alma while they walked, but she was more interested in jumping into the melting snow drifts, jamming her big nose into the freezing snow and snorting and sneezing. Link was supposed to discourage her, but it was so funny he couldn't help but encourage it.

"What's this thing about going to Canada?" Ed asked, kicking little chucks of snow down the sidewalk, his hands in pockets.

Link shrugged, "Just a hunch I have." Ed didn't like believing in magic, Link doubted he'd believe in psychic dreams.

"About Amestris?" Ed asked out of curiosity. He didn't expect Link to be worried about a world that wasn't his.

"Maybe," Link shrugged. "Probably more to do with Hyrule."

Just then, Alma started barking at the sky. She was going crazy. She pulled on the leash so hard she coughed. All the other dogs on the street started barking as well. Despite how strong Link was, keeping a grip on the leash wasn't the issue. Alma's neck was so lanky and her collie head so elongated and thin that she slipped the collar and bolted down the street.

"Alma!" Link cried, running after her.

"Link, slow down!" Ed scrambled to keep up, but the icy sidewalk wasn't optimal for two legs, let alone one or three. Link only caught Alma because she spun out on the slushy sidewalk and crashed into a snow bank on someone's lawn.

"Alma, what's…" Link started to console her, but he was cut off by a deep rumbling that felt like it came from the very core of the Earth. "What the…?"

Link was about to look around when a sharp pain pierced his hand and he cried out. It was like a thousand hot, barbed needles, jamming into his hand and twisting their way in. Ed was too busy holding his head to notice Link's distress. At the same time Link's hand acted up, he received a migraine.

When the shaking subsided, so did the pain. Both boys looked at each other, and then the sky. There were huge, gaping, purple wounds in the sky, leaking dark fog. The tears were widening, reaching for one another. Winged demons flew down, carrying smaller, flightless monsters in their arms, dropping them in the streets.

"Well, fuck," Ed said.

Immediately, people started closing any part of their house that wasn't already closed and called their children back inside. Ed's phone started to ring. It was Gordon. Ed usually hung up on him or let it ring to voicemail, but this time he figured Gordon needed an answer.

"Yeah?" Ed said, dazed, into the phone.

"Are you two alright?" Gordon asked frantically. "Get back home. Now."

"Yeah," Ed agreed, he hung up the phone. "Link, come on, time to go…" Ed looked around… "home…" Link was gone. "Link!" Ed found him just as he rounded the corner, Alma right on his heals. "Link, stop, home is that way!" Ed ran after Link. "Shit!"

It was a miracle Ed caught up with Link, with all the snow on the roads and the migraine still throbbing in the back of his head. It was Alma who slowed Link down. She was still jumping in snowdrifts.

"Link, what the hell?" Ed panted, clamping his hand on Link's shoulder to prevent him from running again.

"I have to stop them," Link said.

"No, you have to go home, where it's safe."

"Nowhere is safe if I'm stuck at home," Link insisted.

"What, are you Superman or something?"

"No! That's not what I… ugh," Link complained.

He didn't know how to explain, so he begrudgingly followed Ed back home. They found Gordon pacing back and forth in the living room, loudly arguing with Bullock on the phone.

"I want the blimps in the air and I need choppers combing the streets… No, I can't come in right now, Link and Edward are… Harv, I'll call you back," Gordon hung up the phone and went to them, looking them both over for injured before relaxing. "Where were you? I called you ten minutes ago."

"Alma got lose," Ed said. "Link ran after her. I couldn't really keep up. How can we help?"

"You can help by staying here where I don't have to worry about you."

"That's bull," Ed snapped.

"What's bull is me having to keep track of you and everyone else in this damn city in the middle of a global crisis!" Gordon snapped back. "You're both staying here or you're staying in my office at work, where I can lock the door and post a guard, take your pick. I'd rather use my office and the men it would take to keep you there for other things, personally, but if you'd prefer that…"

"You'd really ground someone with powers? Leaving Link behind I understand, but me‽ I can take care of myself and I can help."

"Like hell you can!" Gordon snapped.

"Guys, I know what's happening," Link tried to explain, but they were too busy arguing to listen. "Ed," Link tugged on Ed's jacket. Ed brushed him off.

"I'm helping, whether you want me too or not," Ed snarled.

"The only way you're helping is by staying out of the way, where you're safe."

"You think this is safe?" Ed threw his hands up. "There are monsters coming out of the sky, which is falling apart."

"The last time something like this happened I lost a fifth of the force, most of them good men and women, dedicated to protecting this city. I'm not losing you, too."

"More people will die if I don't help," Ed insisted.

"Get in the car," Gordon pointed to the garage. "I'm not arguing with you, even if I have to lock you in my office and handcuff you to the damn chair."

"Ed, it's important," Link whined. Ed continued to brush him off.

"Edward, get in the car."

"Make me, old man," Ed snarled.

"Edward," Gordon was growing impatient.

"You know I can help!"

"Edward, you're wasting valuable time…"

"No I'm not! You're not listening to me! I can help! Why aren't you listening to me! It's not like you can tell me what to do, anyway!"

"Oh, like hell I can't," Gordon snarled, grabbing Ed by the arm and dragging him to the garage. Link scooped Alma into his arms and went after them.

"Let go of me!" Ed twisted out of Gordon's grasp and took a step away.

Gordon spun around and slapped Ed across the face, open palmed. Link squeaked in fear and held Alma closer to himself. The moment was tense, no one talked, but Gordon was still fuming.

"Edward, I've had it up to here with you," Gordon snarled, grabbing Ed once more. Ed was too stunned to struggle. "You and Link are coming with me to headquarters and you're staying in my office and you will not argue with me on this. Got it?"

"Fine," Ed hissed, glaring at the wall, unable to look Gordon in the eye.

"Good."

Ed sat in the back with Link. He was pissed at Gordon. The last thing he wanted was to sit next to him simply for the sake of taking shotgun. He didn't think there was a line he could cross that would make Gordon hit him. Sure, Izumi would hit him all the time, but it never hurt like this. This felt like Sig had hit him, and Sig had never raised a hand to him or Al.

Gordon hated the look on Link's face. He hated the feeling in his gut. He regretted hitting Ed, but tried to convince himself it was better than letting him fight the hell spawn swooping down on the city. He didn't know what he would do if he lost Ed or Link. He didn't even want to think about losing them both. He had to keep them safe, even if they didn't like it. He still felt awful.

* * *

When they reached the main part of Gotham, Gordon had to put his siren on so the panicking and rioting citizens would get out of the way when he sped past them. They were also lucky enough that the monsters harassing the citizens were scared of the loud noise and fled as they drove past. Overhead, the police blimps were announcing a mandatory curfew throughout the city.

They got to the parking garage under the GCPD and Gordon herded them out of the car. Ed crossed his arms, hunched his shoulders, and stamped his feet. Link walked in such a way that Ed was always between him and Gordon, and he still clutched Alma to his chest. Gordon glanced over at him to see how he was doing and Link flinched. Gordon hated himself for it. He promised Link he wouldn't hurt them, and then he went and hit Ed. And in front of Link, no less. He wondered what Link thought of him now.

They still didn't speak when they reached Gordon's office. Bullock, once again, managed to keep Vale out of Gordon's hair for a few minutes while he got the boys situated. It was chaos in the bullpen. 911 had a hold time of forty-five minutes, there was a APB on a fifty different fire breathing lizards with spears, and no one had any information on what the hell was going on.

Gordon herded the boys and Alma into his office and quickly shut and locked the door behind him, not wanting to risk a reporter getting loose from Bullock and barging in while he tried to sort out the current predicament he had going on with his foster sons.

"Edward," Gordon started.

"What?" Ed snapped, his arms still crossed and his shoulders still hunched.

"I'm sorry," Gordon sighed.

Ed harrumphed at him and sat down on the couch. Link put Alma down and sat down next to Ed, his hands on his knees and his face downturn.

"I'd rather you be mad at me in here than impaled by a goddamned lizard man out on the streets."

"Lizalfos," Link mumbled, but they didn't hear him.

"You don't know that would happen!" Ed protested, getting to his feet, their argument rekindled; merely relocated rather than resolved.

"And you don't know that it won't," Gordon snapped. "Edward, if anything happened to you or your brother…" Gordon's face twisted with pain at the mere thought. "I don't know what I would do."

"Oh, so you'd rather hurt us yourself, is that it?"

"No. I didn't… I didn't mean to hit you," Gordon ran his hand over his face and took a deep breath. "There's no excuse for what I did. I was angry and scared of you getting yourself killed. I needed to end the argument. Please, Edward, I can't lose you. I nearly lost Barbara and it almost killed me. I can't go through that again."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have adopted us," Ed snarled.

"Maybe," Gordon sighed. "But I'd much rather be your father than let you slip away into the foster care system. I don't know what I'm going to do without you once you get back home."

"Don't try and get all sentimental on me!" Ed snapped. "You hit me, you jackass! We're… we're always fighting! You don't… you never make any sense!" Ed threw his arms into the air angrily and slumped back into the couch, cross his arms and harrumphing once more.

Gordon sighed. "Please, boys, just stay here while I sort this out. It shouldn't last more than a few days, at most. The Justice League will have it under control. It's only a matter of time before this all blows over, I promise."

Link believed Gordon believed that, but Link himself knew it was wrong. If lizalfos were involved, that meant Ganondorf was involved. And if Ganondorf was involved only Link could stop him. But he didn't want Gordon to hit him too, so he kept his mouth shut. Maybe the Justice League could handle it and he wouldn't have to make his surrogate father angry with him.

"And, boys," Gordon added before he left to give a statement to the mass of reporters outside. "I'm on your side, I promise. It might not seem like it right now, but I care about you."

Ed didn't respond. Link looked to Ed for guidance, so he didn't respond either, though he wanted too. Gordon sighed and ran his hand over his face once last time before turning to brave the storm of reporters. He prayed he didn't ruin whatever chance he had with his sons. Though he hadn't said it out loud, he loved those two boys, flaws and all. He only hoped they would do the same for him.

Gordon locked the door behind him, both to keep the boys in and the monsters out. He planned on returning straight after the press conference, he didn't like the idea of leaving the boys alone for too long, and Batman usually contacted him in his office during the daytime, so he'd need to be there for that. And with winged lizard monsters swooping down from the sky, breathing fire and swinging spears, he didn't think the roof would be a good rendezvous with the Caped Crusader.

* * *

Inside the office, Ed was still fuming. Gordon hadn't hit him hard enough to leave a mark and it didn't sting anymore, which was more than he could say for most of the lumps he'd taken in his lifetime. But it was the principle of the thing. Gordon swore, up and down, time and time again, he'd never raise a hand to them. And then he hit Ed. Hypocrite.

"Ed?" Link mumbled.

"What?" Ed grumbled.

"Do you think he meant it when he said he cared?"

"No, I don't," Ed snapped, but it was only the anger talking. He didn't know if he believed his own words. He might, but then again, he might not.

"I… I think he meant it," Link mumbled, petting Alma on the head to keep her from jumping on the couch.

"Oh, so you think it was fine that he hit me?" Ed snapped.

Link's face turned red and he shook his head.

"Humph," Ed scoffed.

"It's not like he actually beat you or anything," Link said. "And he said he was sorry. What kind of asshole hits you and then apologizes?"

"An asshole who wants to keep his victim's sympathy and trust, that's what. Next time, I'm gonna hit him right back."

"Why didn't you this time?"

"Because I didn't feel like it," Ed snapped.

"He said he was scared of us getting hurt, though. Even… even if he hits us… doesn't that make it okay? I mean… usually when I get hit it's because I did something bad not because something bad could have happened to me."

"What do you mean 'usually'?" Ed asked, uncrossing his arms and sitting up. "Who… who usually hits you?"

Link shrugged, his face turning even redder than before.

"You won't tell me, will you?"

Link looked out the window at the huge tears opening up in the sky and shivered. "Do you think everything's gonna be alright?" Link asked.

Ed followed Link's gaze and frowned. "I don't know. This looks like the end of the world. And Gordon won't even let me help stop it. You'd think this'd be an all-hands-on-deck situation, but I guess not." He didn't want to scare Link, but he figured that boat had sailed. "Don't worry, kid, I won't let anything happen to you."

Link rolled his eyes, "Ed, I'm not a baby. I can take care of myself, you know. Better 'n you, I bet."

"Oh, is that so?" Ed scoffed.

Link was about to insist on how good he was at defending himself from monsters, especially these ones, when the fax machine in Gordon's office rumbled to life and starting printing out a fax. They both looked at it in shock as a piece of paper with shaky, illegible letters and ink splotched sputtered out of the machine. Then, a second paper with a series of small dots and lines sputtered out, followed by another, and another, until all of the paper was gone.

Link and Ed exchanged a curious look, and then went to grab the paper from the in tray. As soon as they approached it, it started to whir frantically and flash it's refill paper light. It was almost as if it was alive.

"What do we do?" Link asked.

"Hell if I know," Ed said. "Put more paper in it?"

"Where do we get more paper?"

The whirring grew even more frantic.

"He's got coloring books in one his drawers. I can transmute that into printing paper easily enough," Ed said.

He went to Gordon's desk and tried drawers until he found one that opened. Luckily, that was the drawer with the coloring books and police badge stickers. Ed transmuted a few coloring books into printing paper and inserted it into the fax machine. Immediately, the machine starting printing more paper. It got half way through the remaining paper when it sputtered out the last page, a giant, crude Batsignal.

"Does that mean it's from Batman or for Batman?" Link asked.

"Pretty sure Batman doesn't have a fax machine," Ed said. "So it's probably for him."

"How do we get it to him?"

"We should probably give it to Gordon and let him handle it."

"This is weird," Link frowned.

Ed was about to transmute the door open to go and get Gordon, when the fax machine printed out one final note. When Ed read it, it sent shivers down his spine.

Eddie, open your watch - Mom

"Is that for you?" Link whispered.

"I… I don't know. My mom's been dead for almost ten years and… no one calls me Eddie."

She's not your mom and I'm not dead you nerd open the watch. It's hard to write letters with this dinosaur. - Definitely Mom

"Ugh, this is creepy," Ed grumbled. Not to mention that it didn't make any sense. He was absolutely certain Trisha Elric was dead and that she was his mom.

"It's possessed?" Link offered.

"Well, it's not like there's a bomb in my watch, right?" Ed asked, pulling out his pocket watch. He opened it and found a memory stick inside, which was odd since he couldn't remember the last time he opened it, but he knew it was before he left Amestris. He looked to Gordon's computer and frowned. If he wanted to see what was on the memory stick, he needed a computer, but Gordon's was locked.

"Hey, when's Bab's birthday?" Ed asked, sitting at the computer and plugging the memory stick in.

Link shrugged. "September 23, I think."

"She's twenty five, right?"

Link nodded.

"Okay, let's try 92389. Nope. 9231989. Still no. Sep2389. Bingo!"

Ed impatiently jiggled the mouse around while he waited for the computer to unlock. When it did, he double clicked the memory stick and opened the file. It had a single video file named 'To Eddie from Mom'. It sent shivers down Ed's spine.

"I thought your mom was dead," Link asked.

"She is. I watched her die. I was holding her hand. And she never once called me Eddie. I've never been called that in my life."

"Play the video," Link prompted him.

Ed's hand was clammy. There was something nagging at the back of his mind. Shakily, he played the video.

The screen was blurry at first, but then it resolved into a staticky image of a woman. Link recognized her from his dream. She was even in the same place. She looked around her in fear before she settled down and looked directly into the camera. She was very young, no older than twenty, but her eyes looked much older and she looked like she was in a lot of pain.

"Eddie, if you're watching this, you got away without me," the woman said. She smiled and laughed. "Haha, usually when people make these they open with 'if you're seeing this, that means I'm dead' but I guess that doesn't apply to me!" She frowned and signed. "Of course, that only means I'm still stuck here, doesn't it? I just hope I can get you to safety before Ganondorf kills you."

"What?" Ed frowned. "That… doesn't make any sense. I don't… I don't know her. Why… why do I know her?"

"Ganondorf?" Link whimpered, instinctively hiding behind Ed.

"Sorry, I got a little distracted there," the woman laughed again. "Well, teleporting between universes without me is a lot like jumping out of a moving train and that's what you'll be doing if I only have enough energy for one of us. And also the exact circumstances for you watching this video. This is my only flash drive, too," the woman frowned. "Anyway," she shook her head to get herself back on track. "I've never sent anyone anywhere on this low of power. Usually I can only send myself places with this little energy, but I'll be damned if I let him hurt you anymore. I can't… I can't let him hurt you. This is the only way."

She paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "Best case scenario, nothing bad will happen and you'll land in the Batcave or near it. Worst case, you slip into the void and vanish from existence. But hey, he's gonna kill you anyway, so that's the same as doing nothing, which really means we have nothing to lose, right? The most probable outcome is you suffer from brain damage or a similar trauma. It's pretty likely you'll lose your real memories. The fake ones are magic, so they might not get corrupted at all."

"Fake memories?" Ed hissed. "My memories aren't fake."

"Of course, they're not fake fake memories. They just belong to someone else. Implanted memories would be more accurate. Also your face… not your face," the woman frowned. "I never approved of that but… not like I could do much to stop him. At least I got a kid out of it?"

"What's she… why can I remember this?" Ed said, grabbing his head in distress.

"Ed, do you want to stop the video?" Link asked.

"N… no," Ed shook his head. "I need to see this."

"The important thing is you're safe and alive and I love you," the woman finished. "No! Wait! Not done. Stupid!" She palmed her forehead. "Tell Batman or Superman or Wonder Woman or anyone other than that bitch Hawkwoman that there's another crisis coming. Ganondorf is going to try and swallow my Earth into the Dark World.

He's already swallowed Alchemia and its solar system. That's what you were for. He was going to infiltrate the government with a clone spy but he didn't know that Edward Elric gets him arm back and loses his alchemy and by the time he found out, he'd already amputated your arm. That's why I have to get you out before he gets you. You're useless to him, he can't regrow your arm.

He's going to kill you if I don't get you away from him. He'd already have killed me if he could have. I'd have already killed him too, but I don't have the Master Sword, yada yada. The video games made this whole shabang look a lot easier than it really is. Press A to boop the snoot. I wish. So there you have it.

I love you, Eddie."

The video ended. Ed collapsed into Gordon's big desk chair, letting out a really deep, heavy sigh.

"Well, shit," Ed said.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	29. Shit Hit the Fan

**Chapter 29**

 **Shit Hit the Fan**

* * *

"This… this isn't happening…" Ed got up from the chair and started to pace the room. "Implanted memories! They're not… they're my memories. They're mine." Ed stopped pacing and started hyperventilating. "I was there. I know I was. It was real. It happened and it happened to me." He fell to his knees. "Right?" He looked to Link, a lost and hurt look on his face.

"I… I don't know," Link whispered. He hated seeing Ed like this, but he was had no way of corroborating the woman's story. And just the mention of Ganondorf was enough to make him flinch.

"She said…" Ed hugged himself. "She said something about this… Ganondorf guy, right? We… we've got to… find him."

"No!" Link flinched. "No. I don't want to."

"But he… he can confirm…"

"I can't, Ed," Link whimpered. "I… I just can't."

"What, do you know him, or something?"

Link looked down at his feet, but he didn't answer. "Why can't we just find the woman in the video?"

"She said she's been captured by Ganondorf. We find one, we'll probably find the other, right?"

"I guess, but…" Link fidgeted. Alma butted her nose into his hands. "What about Alma?" Link asked. "She's still a puppy. We can't bring her out there. She's not trained for that."

Ed looked through the closed blinds and into the rest of the office. The reporters had stopped circling Bullock to hound Gordon in the press room downstairs, which meant, other than trying to keep a handle on the attacking monsters, Bullock was free.

"We'll give her to Bullock," Ed said. "He's good with dogs. He likes Alma."

"But he won't let us leave."

"What can he do to stop us? He's even more of an old man than Gordon."

"Aw, he's not old, he's just scruffy," Link smiled.

"Come on, let's go," Ed scooped Alma into his arms and went to unlock the door.

"Wait, Ed!" Link scampered after him. "I don't want to! I want to stay here! Commissioner Gordon'll get mad."

"Who gives a rat's ass?" Ed snapped, faltering when he realized he picked that phrase up from Gordon. "Besides, it's not like he can stop us. I… I have to know, Link. This is my entire life. It… it can't be fake."

Ed didn't wait for Link to agree with him. He grabbed Link's coat and dragged him over to Bullock, who was shuffling frantically through papers and barking orders at anyone who came near him. He barely even stopped to say hello to them.

"Boys, what are you doing here? Jim wants you in his office," Bullock said.

"Something came up," Ed said. He shoved Alma onto Bullock. "Watch her."

"Now wait a minute," Bullock moved to stop them. "You're not supposed…" his phone started ringing. They slipped away while he was distracted. "Wait, boys!" Bullock started to pursue, but he had to answer the phone. In a time like this, it was bad practice for them to go unanswered. And he still had an armful of puppy. "Boys!"

"There's a pile of papers on Gordon's desk for Batman!" Ed called to Bullock as they ended the corner for the elevator.

"Oh, dammit," Bullock sighed, answering the phone.

Ed snickered to himself as they waited for the elevator to take them down to the parking garage.

"Ed, that wasn't very nice," Link frowned.

"He'll get over it," Ed shrugged.

"If… if the video was true… that means Ganondorf made you," Link whispered. "Does… that make him your father?"

"If it does at least that means I can still resent my old man," Ed snapped. "But the video might not even be true."

The elevator dinged and Ed stormed out. Link followed him, though he didn't know where Ed was going.

"Why would she fake it?" Link asked.

"Maybe she's in cahoots with Ganondorf," Ed said. "And… and they know I can stop them so they're trying to freak me out; gaslight me to slow me down."

"But you can't stop Ganondorf," Link insisted. "And she didn't look like a bad guy. And… and I bet she's friends with Batman, too, so she has to be a good guy, right?"

"How do you know I can't stop Ganondorf," Ed scoffed. "I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist; I'm amazing."

Link rolled his eyes. "Sure, but not even Superman or Wonder Woman can beat Ganondorf. No one can, he's invincible and all powerful and he has a massive demon horde at his beck and call."

"So, what? This is the end of the world as we know it? Just because some ass with an army said so?"

"He's more of a pig than an ass," Link corrected. "And he'll probably win."

"Yeah, well, I'm not going down without a fight or without answers," Ed puffed out his chest and stalked over to Gordon's car. He pulled out his keys, transmuted his car key into an exact replica of Gordon's and unlocked the car. "Come on, we're gonna get to the bottom of this."

"How?" Link asked. "We don't know where to start."

"I bet if we can get into one of the holes in the sky, we can get to where the monsters are coming from, right?"

"Well, sure, but we can't fly."

"We don't have to, we just have to get really high up."

"The helicopters are on the roof."

"We're gonna go to the top of Wayne Tower. It's the tallest building in Gotham and there's a rip right over it. I'll use my alchemy to get us the rest of the way."

"What about getting down once we're on the other side?"

"I'll use my alchemy for that, too."

"What if your alchemy doesn't work on the other side?"

"I… I don't know, I'll think of something."

"While we're falling to our deaths from hundreds of feet in the air?"

"You don't know it's even that far of a drop!"

"And you don't even know if you can get us that high from Wayne Tower!"

"Then stay here if you're that uncertain!"

"Maybe I will," Link snapped.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

In a huff, Link returned to the elevator, arms crossed and face red. He hated it when Ed got cocky and bullheaded like this. If he tried to face Ganondorf, he'd be killed. Link's heart skipped a beat. He was so upset with Ed he forgot that that was exactly where Ed was headed.

"Ed, wait!" Link ran after the car. Since the speed limit in the garage was five miles and Ed didn't want to get caught before he even made it out the door, Link caught him easily enough.

Ed rolled down the window and shot Link a glare.

"I don't want to go but I can't let you go alone," Link explained. "He'll kill you."

"Fine," Ed leaned over and unlocked the passenger seat door.

Link got in, "This is a bad idea."

"You're only saying that because you're scared," Ed snapped.

"What happened the last time your little brother said that and you went through with it anyway?"

Ed flinched. His grip on the wheel tightened to much his knuckles popped. "That's low, Link," he snarled. "Especially for you."

"No, it's not," Link snapped. "It's the truth. If you want answers, you have to either try really hard to see if you have memories that don't fit or if the memories you do have have something off about them. Or you'll have to find the woman in the video and ask her yourself, but she's being kept prisoner by Ganondorf."

"If she's his prisoner, why did she call herself my mom?" Ed hissed. Link didn't think it was possible for him to grip the steering wheel even tighter. "If… if the video is true and she's my mother and Ganondorf is my father… if he… if he hurt her…" Ed took a few deep, shaky breaths, but it didn't calm him down. "He… I'm gonna kill him."

Ed stepped on the gas and sped out of the garage. Link clenched his fists and shivered in his seat. The odds of Ed actually making it to Ganondorf this early in an invasion were slim, and that was putting it kindly, but just the possibility of seeing Ganondorf, face to face or otherwise, shook Link to his very core.

He tried to breathe, but all he could see was Ganondorf's angry, twisted face looming over him and all he could feel was the pain. The pain was crippling. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't cry out for help. Even if he could, no one would come. He was alone.

He started to cry.

Ed didn't notice his little brother's distress. He had tunnel vision, pointed directly at Ganondorf. He needed to know if the video was true. He already knew the answer, deep down. What he was really looking for was an escape, something to punch, to keep his mind away from deciphering the truth on his own.

When he found a group of lizard men terrorizing a group of people trying to get home, he stopped the car. There was no need to park, mass chaos had rid the street of both cars and pedestrians. Ed rushed out of the car, clapped his hands together, and shot spikes out of the ground, impaling the monsters, killing them instantly. The panicked civilians ran from their hiding place and into the nearest unlocked building, locking the door behind them.

Ed was not satisfied. He got back into the car and slammed the door, breathing heavily. Link was curled up into a ball, hiding his head and sobbing, his breath heavy and labored. Ed's tunnel vision slowly dissipated, and he noticed his little brother's distress.

"Link?" Ed asked gingerly. "Hey, kid," he reached over and gently shook Link's shoulder.

Link curled up tighter and cried out in fear, "Don't hurt me!"

"Kid, it's me," Ed said, growing scared. "It's… it's Ed." Ed's voice faltered. He wasn't even sure of that anymore. "It's your big brother, kid. I won't hurt you, remember?"

"He's gonna get me, Ed," Link cried, uncovering his head and hugging his knees to his chest. "Don't let him get me."

"Did… did Ganondorf hurt you?" Ed asked.

Link sniffled, shivering harder.

"He did, didn't he? He's the one who hurt you." Ed looked at the steering wheel and clenched his fists. "It seems like he's hurt everyone I care about, huh? Even… even me…" Ed frowned. He realized he nearly dragged his little brother into a suicide mission to track down an abuser he was trying to get away from. "Dammit!" Ed shouted, slamming the wheel and honking the horn. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" He hit it three more times.

Link flinched each time.

"I… I keep hurting you," Ed whimpered. "Why do I keep hurting you?"

Link sniffled quietly.

"I'm so goddamn selfish!" Ed shouted, honking the horn once more. "We… we should go back, shouldn't we?" Ed asked Link.

Link was still too shaken to answer.

"I'm taking us back. You can give Alma a big puppy hug. You'd like that, wouldn't you?" He looked at Link and felt his heart clench in pain. Link was pale as a sheet, the only color came from outside the car, glistening off the tear stains on each cheek. "I think that'll make you feel better." He turned the car around and drove back to the GCPD.

* * *

The impromptu press conference was almost as exhausting as fighting with Ed. Despite not having physically exerted himself to answer the bombardment of questions to which he had no real answers too, Gordon's whole body ached. He figured he should go back to his office and pop a few of the pills his doctor had prescribed him for his heart condition, but what he really wanted was a cigarette. But then again, he wouldn't need the pills at all if he never smoked in the first place.

"Damn," Gordon sighed. Thinking of his office reminded him of his two charges who were currently grounded in said office. He didn't want them to see him taking pills, not that they were nefarious. They weren't even addictive. But he didn't want them to worry about his health.

When he got to his office, all thoughts of his heart pills were out of his mind. He found the door to his office wide open and Bullock trying to juggle his phone in one hand and keep Alma under control with the other.

"Harvey, where the hell are they?" Gordon barked.

"Jim!" Bullock flinched. "They… um…" he pointed to Gordon's office with his phone, quickly brought the phone back to his ear, then pointed to the elevator with a squirming puppy, who slipped right out his hands and scampered over to Gordon, yipping happily and wagging her big, fluffy tail in excitement. She was at the age where her little collie ears were lost in her growing collie fluff.

"I asked you to watch them," Gordon sighed.

"I was!" Bullock excused, finally hanging up the phone. "But then they put that stupid dog in my lap and left and I tried to stop them but the phone and the dog and…" Bullock's phone rang again and he made the most distressed sound that Gordon had ever heard come out of a grown man.

"Answer it," Gordon sighed.

"Oh, the boys said there was a fax for Batman? Don't know what that was about," Bullock said as he answered the phone. "Those boys are a handful, Jim. I have no idea how you handle them on your own."

"Honestly, neither to I," Gordon sighed. "Edward on his own is almost too much, but Link is so quiet it's impossible to tell when something's wrong, especially with Edward taking up most of my energy. It would be a hell of a lot easier if I were twenty years younger, I can tell you that."

"I can't disagree with you there. Wouldn't mind shaving a few years off in the nice direction myself," he answered the phone. "Captain Bullock speaking."

Gordon went into his office, and sure enough, on the fax machine there was a giant stack of papers with a Batsignal on top. Gordon wondered who could possibly be sending a fax to Batman, but odder things had happened. With everything going on, he figured he should deal with the Batman issue before going after his wayward sons, but as a father, Ed and Link were foremost on his mind.

He moved the stack of papers from their precarious perch on the fax machine and onto his desk, where he noticed his computer was on and a flash drive he didn't recognize was docked into one of the ports. Curious, he woke his computer, and was shocked to find the image of the missing Leaguer on it, with the caption 'To Eddie from Mom'. Gordon guessed he should make his work and home computer passwords different.

He watched the video, from start to finish. His stomach twisted. He had to find Ed before he did something stupid. He was so shaken he fumbled with his desk phone. He dialed Ed's number as quickly as he could, but it rang to voice mail.

"Edward," Gordon said. He sighed. He didn't know what to say. Nothing came to mind that could be said over voice mail or text. "Please, come back. I… I saw the video." He took a shaky breath. "Just… please… please, don't do anything rash, son. If anything happened to you or your brother… please, come back." He hung up before he started to sound like a broken record.

Gordon leaned back in his chair and ran his hand over his face. "Why does everything have to happen at once?"

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	30. Aftershock

**Chapter 30**

 **Aftershock**

* * *

"Why does everything have to happen at once‽" Ed snapped to himself as he swerved down the street to avoid hitting the lizard men. Link was still huddled in the passenger seat, sniffling and shivering, Ed's mind was still reeling from the shock that his entire life was a lie, and the sky was still being consumed by hell, spitting out monsters like a horny rabbit.

Getting out was much easier than getting back in. Before, he had no real destination in mind, therefore road blocks didn't block him. This time, he had to methodically weave his way through the traffic and the chaos to get back to the GCPD. Gordon's siren helped him scare off the monsters and made panicking pedestrians flee the street, but he had to get out of the car to clear blockage in the streets, like dumpsters pushed out into the road by nefarious criminals turned highway men, feeding on the mass panic that came with a worldwide crisis.

Thankfully, Ed didn't have to fight too many of them, since he could just alchemy them out of his way before they could even get close to him or his little brother. Lord have mercy on anyone who went after Ed's little brother.

It took him fifteen minutes to get back to GCPD Headquarters. His phone rang a few times; the caller ID read 'Commissioner Jerk Face'. He didn't wasn't to answer it. He didn't want to talk to anyone. He just wanted to get Link somewhere safe so he could sort out whatever was going on with his little brother where the monsters and the lowlifes couldn't get them if they let their guard down.

"Hey, kid," Ed glanced over at Link. "How you holding up?"

Link didn't answer. He was still shivering.

"We're almost there, kid," Ed said, driving into the parking garage. "You're safe, he can't get you. I won't let him."

"You can't stop him," Link said sadly. "No one can."

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that, won't we?" Ed tried to cheer Link up, but it didn't seem to work. Link was still moping and quivering. "I'm so sorry, kid," Ed whimpered. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

He parked in Gordon's space and got out of the car. He had to coax Link out of the passenger seat. It took him an additional ten minutes. He had to silence his phone. He felt bad making Gordon worry, but Link was more important.

"Come on, kid," Ed ruffled Link's hair. "Please? We're safe here. This is the GCPD, it's, like, the safest place in Gotham."

Link fidgeted in his seat and look up at Ed, sniffling. "Do you think he's gonna yell at us?"

Ed sighed. "Will you come out if I promise he won't?"

Link shrugged, "I guess so."

"You ready?"

Link nodded.

Link got out of the car and leaned into Ed. Ed wasn't sure what Link was doing at first, until Link hesitantly wrapped his arms around Ed and gently squeezed, burying his face in Ed's coat. Ed wrapped his arms around Link and held him tight. "I've got you," Ed whispered. "You don't have to be afraid anymore."

"I know that," Link mumbled. "I just forgot for a little bit."

"That's okay," Ed said. "Everything going on, it's easy to forget the things that matter. It's scary. Just because you don't have to be afraid doesn't mean you won't be, right?"

"I s'pose."

"You're a brave kid, Link," Ed said. "I'm pretty glad to have you watching my back and I'm damn proud to watch yours."

Link smiled up at him happily. "We're a team!"

"Hell yeah we are!" Ed grinned. "That's what brothers are for, right?"

"Right!" Link said, all his worry and panic and fear a thing of the past. "And Ed, it's okay if he yells at us. I'm feeling better now."

"That's good because I'm pretty sure he's gonna yell at us," Ed said, making his way to the elevator.

"It was your idea," Link frowned, following him.

"Don't worry, I'll take all the blame." Ed hit the button and they waited for the elevator to get to them.

"You'd better," Link grumbled. "I don't like it when he yells. Even if it's not at me. It's still upsetting."

"I'm sorry, kid," Ed sighed. "I lost control there for…"

There was a banging sound somewhere in the garage behind them.

"Did you hear that?" Ed asked.

Link nodded, cautiously looking behind them. There was nothing there.

"Probably just the pipes making noise. It's an old building, right?"

Link shrugged.

"Yeah, old buildings creak."

There was another bang, followed by the sound of clawed feet scrabbling against pavement. Then there was another loud bang and a car alarm went off.

"I don't think it's the building," Link said.

Ed started bashing the elevator button. The button's light went out, the elevator creaked, and the doors opened, but the elevator had stopped five feet above the floor. The door squealed and shot sparks.

More scrabbling. A hulking, shadowy figure lumbered around the corner. Link and Ed froze. It turned it's amorphous head to the sky and snuffled and snorted the air. Parts of it shifted, adjusting its weight, but it was hard to tell which parts. It's head spun around and one, big red eye opened on it's face. It was looking at them.

"The stairs, the stairs!" Ed shouted, shoving Link towards the stairwell.

The figure lumbered at them, heaving and panting like a giant, running bear. They scrambled up the stairs as quickly as they could. The beast burst through the door, but only small parts of it, like its arm or face, fit through the doorframe. They didn't look back to check if it was catching up with them, but they did hear it stop trying to get into the stairwell.

They burst out of the doors and into the top floor of the GCPD, where Gordon's office was. Gordon was in his office, shouting at someone over the phone and Bullock was in the break room, taking a nap on the couch. There were multiple empty cups of coffee on his desk in the bullpen. When Gordon saw them, he hung up the phone and opened his office door.

"Boys!" He all but screamed at them. They both flinched. "My office, now," Gordon snarled.

They made it halfway from the stairs to Gordon's office when a loud thud echoed from the elevator shaft. Both boys looks at each other in fear. The sound of claws on cement, three bangs against the elevator doors, three huge, monster sized bulges in the metal, an angry, shrill scream, and one final BANG! The doors of the elevator flew through the room and slammed into the wall above Gordon's office, the monster from the garage leapt out, aiming for Ed and Link.

"Boys, move!" Gordon shouted, pulling out his .38 revolver and opening fire on the monster.

All six shots landed, the force of them knock the monster's lunge off course, and it missed the fleeing Ed and Link by mere feet. The monster landed on it's feet and shook off the bullets like they were bug bites. It locked it's one, huge eye with Link. An even larger, gaping maw, lined with teeth and dripping saliva, opened up, a forked tongue lolled out hungrily. It was after Link.

"Boys, get away from that thing!" Gordon barked at them.

He put himself between his sons and the monster attacking them. Ed grabbed the back of Link's coat and directed his little brother so that if the monster wanted to get to Link, it'd have to get through both him and Gordon.

Bullock fumbled out of the break room and opened fire on the hulking beast, all twelve rounds. His attack had the same effects as Gordon's. Link knew police couldn't fight this monster and it was after him. It'd rip Gordon to shreds before he let it get to him or Ed. It might even rip through Ed to get to Link.

The monster shook off the bullets from Bullock's gun and turned back to Link. Gordon was out of bullets and all he had was an electrified police baton, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to protect his boys.

"Ed, I need a sword," Link said.

"It's fine, Link, I got this. You just rest."

"Ed, don't baby me," Link hissed. "We don't have time."

"Fine," Ed snapped. He clapped his hands together and transmuted a nearby exposed pipe into a plain steel sword, handing it to Link. He went on to make his spear from the floor.

"Edward, you'd better be planning on putting those back," Gordon said.

"Monster first, old man," Ed snapped.

Gordon looked like he was about to say something, but he decided Ed was right.

Unfortunately, Link did not think Ed was right. He thought that both Ed and Gordon were trying to protect him. While he appreciated the gesture, it wasn't going to work. He pulled out the Bunny Hood, Stone Mask, and Mirror Shield and skirted around Ed and Gordon. The monster's one eye continued to follow him, so he decided to put the Stone Mask back.

Link was now across the room from Gordon and Ed. The monster was unimpressed and returned it's attention to Gordon and Ed.

"Link, what are you doing‽" Gordon yelled at him. "Get back here!"

Link didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed a stapler off a desk and threw it at the monster as hard as he could. The monster yelped when the stapler hit it in the back of the head. Despite a stapler being universally considered a lesser weapon to a handgun, Link felt like he did more damage with his haphazard throw than all six round from Gordon's gun and twelve from Bullock's.

The monster spun on Link, who readied his sword.

"Link, stop!" Gordon shouted.

The monster lunged at Link. Ed, Gordon, and Bullock shouted in surprise and fear. Link was not afraid. He spun the sword in his hands and slashed it in the monster's one big eye as soon as it was in range. He skewed it with his sword, then stabbed it once more for good measure.

The shrill shrieking of the monster pierced through the air. It spasmed away from Link, spilling dark, inky smoke into the room, until it stopped, ridged, and exploded in ash and sparks. Link covered his face as some of the sparks rained down on him. They fizzled out with a spitter, and there was no trace of the monster left behind.

"Link, what were you thinking!" Gordon went to him and grabbed his upper arms, looking him over frantically for injury. "You could have been killed!"

Link's face turned pale and he looked down at his shoes. "M'sorry," he mumbled. "It was gonna hurt you."

Gordon didn't know to answer that, so he directed Link to his office, grabbing Ed on the way. "Fix this mess, then we'll talk," Gordon took the sword from Link's hand and handed it to Ed.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ed huffed, turning the sword back into a pipe and the spear back into the floor. He followed Gordon into his office.

Alma excitedly wiggled over to Link and Link knelt so down to pet her before he and Ed sat on the couch. Gordon didn't sit down at his desk chair. Instead, he leaned against his desk so that there was nothing between him and the two boys. He crossed his arms. He clenched and unclenched his jaw. He wasn't sure how mad he should be with them, or what to say first.

"Are we in trouble?" Link asked after a few moments of awkward fidgeting.

"I don't know yet," Gordon sighed, rubbing his bridge of his nose under his glasses.

Ed looked at the computer, and remembered the flash drive. "Did you watch the video?" Ed asked, a trace of anger in his voice.

"Yes, I did," Gordon answered.

"You had no right to just…" Ed got up angrily.

"And you had no right to use my computer," Gordon snapped, interrupting him. "You left it open, what did you expect I would do?"

Ed clenched his fists and sat back down with a thud and whumph.

"How are you feeling?"

Ed shrugged. "Do you… know who the woman in the video is?"

"Multiverse," Gordon said. "She's a founding member of the Justice League. That's about all that I know about her. She mostly keeps to herself and her publishing company."

"Do you… think what she said is true?"

"I don't know why she'd lie. This is a bit too far for a practical joke. Do you remember anything?"

Ed shook his head. "I don't know. The fake memories are clearer. There are some that don't… fit… with everything else… But they're fuzzy and dark and they make my head hurt. What… what am I going to do? I'm… I'm not… I'm not even real."

"Don't talk like that, Edward."

"Why? It's the truth! Everything I've done… isn't real. It happened to someone else."

"The last six months were real."

"Yeah, but everything I did was because of… of a past that isn't mine."

"Your past may have been falsified, but your future isn't. You can always stay in Gotham, Edward. You know you have a home here."

"Yeah, whatever," Ed grumbled, fidgeting in his seat. "We've got a bigger fish on our plate right now," he looked to Link, who was gently petting Alma on the head and trying not to think about anything other than how soft and fluffy her floppy ears were.

"Edward, as much as I would love to discuss the sudden monster problem we're having… are you sure we shouldn't talk more about this?"

"It's not… entirely about the monsters. It's about Link… if he wants to talk about it," he turned to Link. "You should tell him. I… I know you don't like talking about it… but I think it involves the shit show going on."

"What is this about?"

"Link? Do you think you can talk about it?"

Link didn't respond. He kept petting Alma. The only sign he showed of having heard Ed was withdrawing farther into his shell.

"Edward, don't…" Gordon started to berate Ed for spooking Link, but Link interrupted him.

"No, it's okay," Link mumbled. "I s'pose I should talk about it and if I have to tell someone I'm glad it's you." They tried to protect him from the monster, even if they were severely outmatched and unequipped for the job. No one had ever done that for him before. Not even Navi. "You're… the closest I can have to a real family, I guess."

"We are your family, Link," Gordon said, concerned. "We both care about you very much."

Link mumbled something, but not even he was sure what he was trying to say.

"Nothing can change that," Gordon reassured him.

Link hid behind his knees.

Ed looked from Link and to Gordon, clenching his jaw. He wasn't sure if he should tell Gordon that all of Link's fright was Ganondorf's fault or not. Link seemed to be avoiding it, but Gordon… really was the closest thing to family they had. The boy who told his little brother that the only ones who were gonna look out for each other was them… wasn't him.

"Ganondorf's the one who hurt Link," Ed said.

Link flinched farther into his shell, but he didn't get mad at Ed for spilling the beans. Alma crawled up onto the couch, sensing he boy's growing distress, and rested her chin on Link's knees, whimpering quietly.

Gordon took a deep, shaky breath. "Are you sure?"

Ed nodded. "I… after I saw the video, I… just kinda saw red. Ganondorf is keeping my mom prisoner and… I guess I drew the conclusion that… that he… he…" Ed couldn't finish the sentence. It was too horrible. "A… anyway… I was gonna go after him. I wanted to hurt him. I still do."

"And how were you planing on finding him? He hasn't even made demands yet."

"I know. I don't know what I was thinking. Link wasn't going to let me go alone. I… I only turned around because Link had a panic attack and it snapped me back to my senses, I guess. His pain was more… relevant at the time."

"I am very disappointed in you, Edward. You put both yours and Link's life in danger," Gordon wasn't yelling. He knew he wouldn't think straight either if he learned his entire life was a sham and Ed was already hotheaded.

"I know," Ed sighed. He could tell that disappointed was all Gordon was. "I just… less than an hour ago, I knew who I was and what I wanted with my life. Now… I don't know anything. I have nothing. I am nothing."

"Don't say things like that," Gordon scolded. "This changes a lot of things, but there are some things that won't change. Like Link and me. The three of us are family now."

"Four including Alma," Link mumbled.

"Look, boys, I know you're both going through a lot of tough, overwhelming things right now and it's hard and it's scary. But I'm your father. I'm here to help you. You're not alone. That goes for both of you."

Gordon looked between the his two boys. They were shaken beyond words, frightened, confused, everything he didn't want for them. But he'd have to take them one at a time. Despite how deeply the boys cared about each other, there were things they thought would make the other hate them. They didn't have that problem with Gordon.

"Edward, why don't you go and get something to eat from the vending machine?" Gordon asked. "You can take your time."

Ed looked at Link, then Gordon, then down at his feet. He didn't want to leave, but he got the message. "Fine," he said. He wasn't angry, just lost. He got up and went to the door. "I need some air anyway."

"Edward, don't…" Gordon stopped him for a moment. "Don't go outside, alright? It's safer inside the building."

"Is it?" Ed snapped, giving Gordon a side look before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him, not out of spite to his foster father, but out of spite to the whole world.

"He'll be alright," Gordon said to Link. "It will take time. But he'll get better."

Link didn't acknowledge him.

Gordon sat down next to Link and rested his head in his hands. "Ganondorf's the one who wouldn't let you learn how to read, isn't he? He's the one who locked you in your room and starved you and he's the one who gave you all of the scars the doctors found when you were in a coma."

"They saw?" Link asked quietly. He though he'd hidden the worst of them. He figured if the doctors had to do surgery on him, they'd have to examine him first.

"All the way down to the bones," Gordon said.

"Does Ed know?"

"No, I didn't tell him."

"But you knew?" Link asked.

"Yes, I knew before I even adopted you and your brother."

"And you adopted me anyway?"

"What do you mean 'anyway'?" Gordon looked at Link in concern. "What he did to you wasn't your fault. I would never blame you for being hurt and you shouldn't either."

"But it was my fault," Link sniffled. "I did bad things and I… I deserved what happened. I deserved it."

"I'm confident you didn't deserve any of it."

"You don't know what happened."

"I would if you told me."

Link looked at him in shock. "Why?" Link frowned and they locked eyes. Link looked confused. "Why do you want to know?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Gordon asked. "You're my son and this is hurting you. I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."

"But I'm not…" Link tilted his head in curiosity. "Do you really think that?"

Gordon reached out and patted Link's back reassuringly. "I don't just think it, I believe it. Now what happened that hurt you so much?"

"I…" Link looked at him with hope in his eyes, but it was reluctant. "I… I don't know if I'm ready."

"That's alright, Link," Gordon said. "I'm here when you are."

"What about Ed?"

"I'm sure he's there if you need to talk to him, too."

"No… I mean if he needs to talk to you."

"Of course," Gordon smiled. "You're a good kid, Link. Edward's lucky to have you. We both are. I'm proud to call you my son."

"Thank you," Link mumbled. Gordon wouldn't be saying that if he knew everything Link had done, all the mistakes he made, the suffering he caused, and the people who died because of him. But he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud. Gordon saying he was proud of him was the best feeling he'd had all day. He couldn't ruin that.

"I wish I… I wish I could change things. Things I've done, things that were done to me. But I can't."

"Everyone has regrets, Link. It's part of life," Gordon hated to think about the things that were done to Link and hated to think of what Link could mean by the things he did.

"Have you ever killed anyone?" Link asked quietly.

"Yes, I have," Gordon said. It was a heavier question than he expected, but one he knew he had to answer. "I was a Marine for seven years and I've been a cop for over thirty. I've taken my share of lives in my time. I won't say I'm proud of it, but it happened. I'd like to think I've saved more than I've taken. What is this about?"

"What's it like?"

"Where's this coming from?" Gordon was concerned.

Link shrugged. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"It's not something I can just… put into words."

"What's it make you feel like? I mean after? How… how do you live with it. Even if the person you killed was really bad? How do I live with the blood on my hands?"

Gordon's heart skipped a beat when Link's questioning suddenly turned to the first person. "Link, did… did you kill someone?"

Link curled up into his shell and started shivering. "I… I don't know if you'd believe me. And… and you're a cop. How do I know I won't get in trouble or you'll still want me after I tell?"

"Son, I'll never stop wanting you. You're a part of my family now."

Link looked back up at him, searching his face for lies, but he found none. "Sometimes I can't believe you're real and someone could ever care that much about me. M… most people who know about me think of me as nothing more than a weapon to be used for their own personal agendas or for the greater good with no regard to how I feel or what I want or how scared or frightened I am."

"A weapon? You? Link… that's…"

"I knew you wouldn't believe me."

"No, Link," Gordon's voice was shaking. "I don't want to believe that anyone could treat a child like that. Especially not my child."

Link's head tilted again. "I guess I got used to it," Link shrugged. "After a while, even beatings start feeling normal. It… it's been six months and I still get worried you'll hit me for making a mistake. But… I guess that's another story and I… I want to tell you a different one. It's a little bit long. Are you sure you want to hear it right now?"

"You're ready now and that's all that matters."

"Alright, hear goes," Link said. For the first time in his life, Link started from the beginning.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	31. I Need a Hero

**Chapter 31**

 **I Need a Hero**

* * *

Link told Gordon everything about his very first quest to stop Ganondorf. He told him about the Great Deku Tree, Princess Zelda, the Goron, Zoras, and Gerudo. He told him about the first time he traveled to the future and about all the bodies left behind by a war he started. It was long and it was hard, and there was only one thing he left out. He didn't tell Gordon anything about his parents. He wasn't ready for that yet.

When Link was finished, his throat was soar and his eyes bloodshot. He'd never talked for so long before. Usually, by that point, someone told him to shut up or they hit him, telling him he wasn't for words, he was for action. But Gordon listened to every word, held him when he cried, and told him everything was gonna be alright. That was more than anyone had ever done for Link. Not even Saria used to do that.

"Do you… still want me?" Link asked as soon as he was done. Recounting his battle with Ganon left him shivering and hiccuping. "Am… am… am I in t… trouble?"

Gordon took a shaky breath. He couldn't bring himself to answer Link. Not because he didn't like his answer, but because Link's story disturbed and scared him. Link was barely nine years old, practically eight, and he was turned into a child soldier. He'd been forced to see things that no one should ever have to see.

Link looked at him. He was starting to fear that Gordon didn't want him anymore.

"No, Link," Gordon squeezed Link's shoulder. "You're not in trouble. Danger, maybe. But trouble? No."

"And you still want me, right?"

"Of course I still want you."

Link smiled and leaned into Gordon's embrace. He felt like a weight had been lifted off of his chest and he could finally breath again. There were barely any terrible secrets left for him to share, and Gordon still cared about him. Maybe Link was worthy of being loved after all.

"What they made you do… it wasn't right. But it doesn't seem like anyone had much of a choice."

"I did," Link mumbled, burying his face in Gordon's chest. "I shouldn't've opened the Sacred Realm. Ganondorf never would have gotten in and stolen the Triforce of Power if I hadn't've done it."

"You didn't know any better, Link," Gordon comforted him. "And you didn't make the same mistake twice, now did you?"

"Well, no… but… even with time travel, the damage was permanent. The Sacred Realm was destroyed in every timeline. The cracks in the sky, they lead to what used to be the Sacred Realm. Even this is my fault. I ruined everything. I… I've given him so much power over… over everything…"

"Link, when… when did Ganondorf hurt you?"

"I didn't like myself when I killed him," Link mumbled. "So… so when I went back in time to try a different way… the… the different way was j… joining him and trying… to earn his trust and respect but… he only respects power and he only trusts his mothers and… and…"

Link started hiccuping and shivering again, tears falling down his face.

"Why did you join him?"

Link shook his head and curled up into Gordon. He clenched his fists and hugged his arms to his body, shaking with tears. The pain was coming back.

"It's alright, Link," Gordon cooed, rubbing Link's back and holding him close. "You're safe here. He can't hurt you anymore."

"But he's here," Link sniffled. "What if he finds me? I'm not ready to face him. I'm not strong enough. I don't want him to take me away. Don't let him take me."

"I won't, son," Gordon said. "I won't."

Link nuzzled into Gordon's chest and took a deep breath to calm him down. Gordon smelled like cedar trees. It was comforting. It made Link feel safe and secure in his father's arms and it helped him stop crying. There was no need to cry in fear or pain when he had Gordon to protect him.

"Feeling better?" Gordon asked, ruffling Link's hear gently.

Link nodded. "Are you gonna talk to Ed now?"

"If he'll let me," Gordon said. "He's never been one to confide in anyone."

"I know but… this is different, isn't it?" Link asked. "And… I think he was just pushing you away because he didn't want to get attached to you because then he'd miss you when he left but now… he's not gonna leave so… it's okay, right?"

"Let's go find him," Gordon smiled, ruffling Link's hair one more time.

Link giggled happily. He loved having a real father. He hoped Ed would let Gordon help him, too. Maybe Link would tell him how good it felt to be held like this. Ed listened to him. He wanted Ed to feel wanted like he did.

* * *

There wasn't much for Ed to do in the GCPD while Gordon talked to Link so he went to the break room and stared at the vending machines, trying to decide if he wanted a snack or not. Ed ended up resting his forehead against the cold glass and closing his eyes. He tried not to cry, he really, really tried. But avoiding the overwhelming feelings was impossible.

About ten minutes in of quietly crying into the vending machine, Bullock came in for a cup of coffee.

"Did your chips get stuck?" Bullock joked. He had no idea what Ed was going through. "Try hitting it a couple times."

"You think I wouldn't be able to handle a bag of chips getting stuck?" Ed snarled.

"Whoa, it was just a joke, kid," Bullock snorted. "Don't bite my head off."

Ed grunted.

"Something wrong?"

"That's none of your goddamn business!" Ed snapped. His voice shook.

"Hey, are you crying?"

"No," Ed sniffed. It wasn't very convincing.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not with you," Ed snapped.

"Aw, come on," Bullock pouted. "You can't tell your Uncle Harv?"

"You're not my uncle."

"Jim's my partner, your his son," Bullock shrugged. "That kinda makes me your uncle. Pretty sure I'll get custody of you and the kid if he dies, so…" Bullock tried to say it jokingly, but it didn't quite work.

"He's not gonna die."

"No. No, of course not. There was something in this city that could kill Jim it woulda gotten him already, right?"

"Leave me alone."

"Alright," Bullock shrugged. "There's a lotta crazy shit going on right now anyway. Probably don't have the time."

"Good," Ed snapped.

"'Course you could always come by my desk if you want to talk," Bullock offered.

"I'm getting some air," Ed snapped, pushing past Bullock and out of the break room, heading for the stairs.

"Stay safe, kid," Bullock called after him, heading back to his desk, coffee in hand.

Ed stormed up the stairs and shoved his way through the roof access. The air was chilling up on the roof and it was dark, despite it being midday. Black clouds had billowed from the rifts and blocked the sun, making it dark as night. That might have been a problem for most of the world, but in Gotham, it felt almost natural.

Ed stood next to the Batsignal, hugged his arms to his chest, and looked out over the chaos. Smoke rose from the skyline where fires had been started and every light in the city was flickering. Dark figures roamed the streets and flapped thorough the air. Ed could swear one of them looked like Batman. He figured Gordon would come up here later to give Batman the faxes the possessed fax machine had faxed them, but for now, he had the roof to himself.

He walked to the ledge and stared over the side with a morbid curiosity. He wondered if he was human on the inside, if the fall would kill him or just injure him. It was ten floors to the street below, accented by gothic architecture and gargoyle statues. Despite everything that happened over the last six months, Ed had felt oddly at home between the gothic buildings. But then he wondered if it was really even him that liked the architecture or just the false memories implanted in him mind making him think he did.

"Is there anything about me that's real?" Ed hissed to himself, squeezing his arms tighter to his chest. "Am I even alive?"

As Ed peered at the empty street below, he wondered, If I'm not alive, does it really matter if I die?

Ed climbed onto the stone railing, teetering over the edge, and let his arms fall to his side. He couldn't take his eyes off the street below. There was nothing between him and eternal sleep. All he'd have to do was lean forward a little and he'd lose his balance and fall. He stood there, waiting for something to happen, like he'd flipped a coin and he wasn't sure if it'd land on the roof or fall to the street below.

He wasn't sure if he cared what happened, either way. Honestly, he'd prefer to fall, but something was still anchoring him to the roof. He was too tired and confused to try and find out what it was, so instead, he waited to lose his balance and see if he fell forwards to his death or backwards onto the roof.

* * *

When they got off the couch, Link gingerly reached up and grabbed Gordon's hand. He waited cautiously for Gordon to pull away, but he didn't. He squeezed Link's hand smiled down at him lovingly. Alma bumped into Link's legs and whined impatiently.

"Alma wants to go for a walk," Link frowned. "But what about Ed?"

"How about we go and get Harvey and you two can take Alma out so she doesn't pee on the floor and I'll go talk to Ed?" Gordon said.

"Alright," Link said, fidgeting. He picked up Alma in his arms and followed Gordon to Bullock's desk outside.

"Harv, I need you to take Link and Alma out so Alma can go," Gordon said.

"Sure thing, Jim," Bullock said. "I could use the exercise anyway."

"Have you seen Edward?"

"He said he was going out for some air, probably to the roof."

"Dammit, I told him not to go outside," Gordon grumbled.

"He looked upset," Bullock said. "He wouldn't talk to me, but maybe he'll talk to you." Bullock got up and pulled on his coat. "Come on, kiddo," Bullock ruffled Link's hair. "Let's go take the little Lassie for a walk."

"Lassie?" Link tilted his head in curiosity.

"Yeah, you know, like Lassie Come Home? It's a movie."

"Oh, I haven't seen it."

"Well then, I'll tell you all about it on our walk. How about that?"

"Okay," Link said.

Bullock and Link went to take Alma out and Gordon went for the roof. He'd made that journey who knew how many times. It was second nature to him. He often found himself wandering up there when he felt like he needed a smoke, but he'd quit smoking over a decade ago.

Gordon didn't know where exactly on the roof he expected to find Ed. Probably next to the Batsignal. Most kids who came up onto the roof were only there for the Batsignal. He had to put a lock on the on the switch because a middle school class almost broke it on a field trip.

Gordon did not expect to find Ed teetering over the edge of the building.

"Edward!" Gordon ran to him. "Get down from there! What are you doing?" He pulled Ed down.

Ed didn't struggle, he didn't protest. He didn't say anything. He had a million yard stare and the most despondent expression Gordon had ever seen on him.

"Do you have some sort of death wish?" Gordon snapped at him.

Ed slumped into Gordon and started crying. Gordon realized he'd picked the wrong boy. He should have spoken with Ed first.

"Ed, were you going jump?" Gordon's voice shook.

Ed shrugged.

"Christ," Gordon hissed. "Dammit."

He practically carried Ed away from the ledge. He had a sickening feeling that if he'd been a moment later, Ed would have jumped and he would have lost him forever. He should have known this would shake Ed this violently. He knew how much Ed cared about the people he was trying to get back to, how important they were. And now it was like all of them had been snatched from him at once, including himself. Gordon couldn't imagine what that possibly felt like, but it couldn't be good.

"Come on, let's go inside and talk about it," Gordon said, gently leading Ed back into the building, down the stairs, and into his office.

Ed still hadn't spoken. He barely moved at all unless Gordon directed him to it. It was like his mind was still standing at the top of the building, or it had jumped sans the rest of him when Gordon pulled him away from the edge. And Gordon had been scared Ed would turn out like James Jr. Instead, he was turning out like Gordon's wife.

"I should put you on suicide watch," Gordon said morbidly.

No response.

"I'm not sure if I could make it to Metropolis right now and I don't trust any of the psych wards in Gotham."

Still, Ed didn't answer.

"Please, Edward," Gordon pulled him into a hug. "Don't do this to me. Say something, please."

Ed didn't answer.

"Oh, God," Gordon cried. He couldn't do this again. Seeing his wife descend into madness was hard enough, but not one of his children. He wasn't strong enough to watch another person he cared about suffer like this.

If Ed knew what was going on around him, he didn't respond to it.

Gordon knew if Link came back and found them like this it would terrify him, so he forced himself to calm down and gently directed Ed to the couch. He took his coat off and wrapped it around Ed's shoulders. Ed slumped against the back of the couch, but he did nothing else. It was like the lights were out. Gordon would trade anything just to hear Ed yelling again.

Gordon wondered if he even had time to take care of Ed like this. Gotham was overrun with monsters and it was his job to protect it. It wasn't like he could fight Ed's inner demons for him, anyway. Gordon quietly got to work on his computer, corresponding with the captains of the districts. It felt wrong, but Ed wasn't responding. He didn't know what to do other than wait for something to happen. He hated it.

Quietly, he flipped over the picture of Eileen and Barbara on his desk. It was an old picture, Barbara was still a little toddler. James had been in the picture as well, but part of Eileen's mental breakdown involved cutting their son out of the family photos. Gordon had caught her maiming the family scrapbook, sobbing manically and rocking back and forth, whispering about how she couldn't take it anymore.

After her third attempt at suicide, Gordon had to send her to a hospital in Metropolis. She was still there. It'd been twenty years. Barbara barely even remembered her. Sometimes, Eileen didn't recognize him when he went to visit her, other times, she was almost normal. The worst of it was when she would mistake him for their son and scream and cry and pull her hair out.

Gordon had no idea where he went wrong with James. He tried to raise a respectful son, but instead he ended up with an unstable psychopath. He knew James was ill, he tried to get him help, he tried countless psychologists and therapists, what felt like hundreds of medications. But James refused to talk to anyone and he refused to take medicine. Gordon had no choice but to kick him out when he turned eighteen. He had to prioritize Barbara's wellbeing. He tried to help James, he failed. It was the hardest thing to accept.

Maybe Gordon did nothing wrong. Maybe there was nothing he could have done right. Sometimes he thought of Ed and Link like his second chance to get it right. But now this was happening and he feared it was out of his control again. He looked at Ed, sitting on the couch, unmoving. Gordon would think he was dead if he wasn't blinking.

"Please, Edward," he prayed. "Please, pull through this. You're strong, I know you are. Please."

* * *

Link enjoyed his walk with his 'Uncle Harv' and Alma. Bullock was funny and he told funny jokes. He was nice to Link and Link liked it. Link wondered if he could call Bullock 'Uncle' if he could also call Gordon 'Dad'. Maybe he'd ask.

Link was so happy to feel wanted that he practically skipped back into Gordon's office, Alma in tow. He was about to announce happily that Alma would not be peeing on the floor when he saw Ed. Link practically shattered.

"Ed?" Link whimpered, gingerly crawling onto the couch next to Ed and shaking his shoulder. "What's wrong?" He looked to Gordon in fear. He's stomach twisted when he saw how upset Gordon looked. Gordon was trying to hide it, but Link could tell, he'd been crying. "What's wrong with Ed?"

"He's not feeling well, Link," Gordon said, his voice shaking. "He'll be alright."

Link looked into Gordon's eyes and whimpered.

"Link, he'll be alright," Gordon insisted.

"No he won't," Link sniffled. "You're lying, I can see it." He curled up against Ed and pulled Gordon's coat around them like a blanket. "What's wrong with my big brother?"

"He… I…" Gordon tried to be strong for Link, like he had been with Barbara when she started noticing something was wrong with her mother. "He's not taking it too well, Link. I don't know what's wrong."

"You said he'd get better!" Link cried. "He's gotten worse."

"I know," Gordon sighed. "I didn't know it was this bad. We just have to give him some time. He might snap out of it."

"Ed," Link nudged Ed more. "Please don't do this," Link sniffled. "Please. I don't want to lose you, Ed."

If Ed wouldn't even answer his little brother, he was farther gone than Gordon realized.

"What do we do?" Link buried his face in Ed's chest and grabbed onto his coat. "How do we help him?"

"I don't know, Link. We just have to be patient and hope he'll get better. There's not much else we can do."

"This is my fault," Link mumbled.

"Link, this isn't your fault. Why would you think that?"

"Remember my birthday? When I got to make a wish?"

"You didn't wish for this," Gordon reassured him. "I know you didn't."

"Well, no, not really," Link said. "I wished I wouldn't have to choose between staying here with you or going away with Ed and now… I don't have to and Ed's been hurt because of it."

"This didn't happen because of you, Link."

"But… my birthday and the candles and Ed said…"

"Link, you can't honestly think a birthday cake has the power to grant wishes?"

Link shrugged, sniffling sadly. "Worse things have happened because of me."

"Link, you can't keep blaming yourself for all the bad things Ganondorf's done."

"But he only has the power to do them because of me," Link protested. "I'm supposed to stop him but I didn't. I let him do this. I let him do everything."

"Is that really what happened?" Gordon asked. "Did he tell you what he was going to do?"

"Well, no, but I… I knew. I… I saw it before."

"And you changed it, even if it was just a little bit. And you were young, you can't be held responsible if there was nothing you could have done."

"But what if there was something? What if I could have done something I didn't know about."

"It's pretty hard to do something if you didn't know you could do it, son," Gordon sighed.

"Well, yeah, but…"

"There are countless decisions made by countless people that lead up to something happening. In this case, some of the those were your decisions. There's no way to predict which ones led to making the thing happen and there's no way to know how much blame goes on each person. The only one who's truly to blame is the one who made the final decision. In this case, it's Ganondorf. He's the one who made the decision to hurt you and Edward."

"But what if he didn't know any better? I mean with me…" Link mumbled. "What if he thought he was doing the right thing by hurting me?"

"You think he would have hurt you if he didn't think it was the best way to do things? That's all people do, the best thing they think they can do. Just because he thinks it's right doesn't make it so. Do you have any idea how many murders and violent assaults come through here where the guilty party insists that they had to do it. That they didn't have a choice? Aside from 'I didn't do it' or 'you got the wrong guy', 'I had to', 'I didn't have a choice', and 'it was the only way' are the most common pleas."

"He said it was my fault," Link mumbled. "That if I'd just behave he wouldn't have to punish me. But I was trying really hard to behave, honest. Most of the time, I didn't even know what I did to deserve it. What did I do wrong?"

Gordon didn't know what to say to Link. He wished he did, he wished he could make the pain and the fear go away, but he couldn't. Maybe the doctor was right and he should take them to a specialist. Ed was having a complete shut down and Link was still living in fear and he didn't know how to help them other than try to offer his best advice and hope they'd get better with time, but he was starting to run out of advice and it seemed like he'd barely made a dent in their problems.

Link was still looking to him for an answer. To his horror, he didn't have one to give. Not one that he felt was adequate.

All he could do was repeat "It's not your fault, Link." That's all he knew to say.

Link's face twisted. He didn't believe Gordon and Gordon didn't know what to do to make him believe it. 'It's the truth,' didn't sound convincing enough, and if he repeated it too many times, Link would think he was just saying it to get him to shut up and stop asking.

With nothing else of use to say, the heavy conversation puttered out, but atmosphere of anxiety lingered. Gordon found himself researching the lingering effects of long term domestic abuse instead of doing his job, which wouldn't have been as worrying to him if his job wasn't protecting a city of over ten million people from a world scale invasion of the extradimensional type. But he couldn't bring himself to put his sons' wellbeing on the back burner just yet.

On the bright side, Ed moved on his own for the first time in a few hours. He hugged Link closer and adjusted his position on the couch to be more comfortable. Link nuzzled closer, welcoming the comfort. Gordon suspected that if the source of their breakdowns wasn't the same man they'd have been able to help each other. But as it was, they were both suffering at the same time. Gordon was their best bet at getting through this and he was determined not to let them down.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	32. ReDead Redemption

**Chapter 32**

 **ReDead Redemption**

* * *

Despite the monsters swarming the streets, the GCPD handled the invasion relatively well. Gotham had protocols in place for city wide riots that worked perfectly for this situation. Gordon found himself consulting other city leaders on how to curb the monsters and prevent wide scale panic among the citizens.

The League was doing its best to keep the invasion under control, there had been minimal casualties, mostly injuries, just two confirmed deaths. Overall, it was unsettlingly calm for a worldwide invasion. It was less like an invasion and more like testing the waters. Though Gordon feared the worst was yet to come, it still felt like the end of the world.

He passed on the fax to Batman, who took it back to who knew where to analyze them. He told Batman what Link told him. He knew Batman would honor Link's privacy and only tell people he thought needed to know. That was how Batman worked and Gordon respected that. With most of the problem held at bay, he could truly focus on Link and Ed without his job nagging at the back of his mind.

First things first, he herded the boys and Alma back into his car and drove them home. Now that he knew some of the streets were safe and the homes safer still, he was comfortable with leaving them in the house and sticking to rotational shifts between him and Bullock leading the GCPD through the newest in a line of crises.

Ed was like a pillow on his bed. As soon as he crawled under the covers he shut back down. Sometimes Link crawled under the blanket with him and nuzzled into his chest for comfort and a sense of security, but with Ed mostly unresponsive, it didn't help much. Link wasn't confident enough to seek Gordon for comfort when the nightmares got tough or his mind wandered back to dangerous memories.

The only two things Ed did was drink water and go to the bathroom. When Gordon or Link brought him food, he didn't touch it. He was starting to look gaunt. Gordon didn't think he was sleeping either.

School had been canceled all over the country, though Gordon suspected it was suspended all over the world. Public transportation was down. Giant carnivorous plants had grown in the subway systems of some cities; of course Gotham would be one of them. Despite being elevated as opposed to underground, the Gotham Rail was overrun. If it weren't so dangerous, it might have looked beautiful.

The most unsettling thing about the invasion, however, wasn't in Gotham City. Two giant towers had appeared. A beam of purple and blue light had shot from two different tears and then the giant spires were just there. There was one in Montreal and one in the Australian outback near Perth.

They were immune to everything the Justice League and various military powers put against it. The only thing they hadn't tried was nuking them, but Superman had disarmed all of the nukes and the situation wasn't desperate enough to tick off the Man of Steel by admitting they'd hid a few from him. The nuclear powers preferred to at least have some say in their mutually assured destruction.

Gordon did his best to keep Link's mind off of everything that was going on in the world. He took the graveyard shift so he could spend the day playing card games with Link and helping him with his reading exercises. He knew he'd have to sleep at some point, but for now he'd stick to catnapping on the couch while Link was preoccupied with trying to get Ed to crawl out of bed.

Despite that this invasion could be the one that does them in, Gordon was grateful for the time he was getting to spend growing closer to Link. Before, he spent most of his time between keeping Ed under control and being Police Commissioner of the second largest city in the country with the highest crime rate in the world.

Gordon was teaching Link how to play Gin Rummy, and learning quickly that Link was an incredibly fast learner, when Ed finally came out of his room. He had his arms wrapped around his chest and was hunched over, but he wasn't lost to the world.

"Glad to see you've decided to join us," Gordon said. "Want to play?"

"Is now really the time for card games? It's not like this is some simple blackout. The world is fucking ending and you're playing cards!"

"I can't be at work twenty-four/seven and I can't just leave Link alone."

"I… I could handle it," Link mumbled. "I am used to it, you know."

"I'm here," Ed said quietly.

"Not the last three days you weren't," Link pulled his knees up to his chest.

"It… its been three days?" Ed whispered.

"You gave us quite the scare there, son," Gordon said.

"Oh, what do you care?" Ed snapped. "It's not like you had to put up with me."

"I'd take putting up with you over worrying about you never getting out of bed again," Gordon snapped back. "If you got any worse or you didn't get better, I wouldn't have been able to take care of you. I'd have lost you, son."

"So?" Ed snarled, glaring at Gordon with hatred in his eyes.

"So? So!" Gordon stood up, glaring right back. He would not be intimated. "I'm your father, Edward."

"No you're not!" Ed shouted. "You're not! I don't get you. You're not my father, why do you keep insisting that you are?"

"Ed…" Link whimpered quietly. "Please…"

"You're not my father, you're not Link's father," Ed continued, unaware of the distress he was causing Link. "So stop pretending you are and just leave us alone!"

"Edward, that is enough!"

"What are you gonna do‽ Send me to my room‽" Ed snarled.

"Stop, please," Link cried, covering his ears.

Ed faltered.

Gordon pounced. "Edward, I know it's hard for you to understand responsibility," he snapped. "But I am responsible for you two and I take that very seriously. Believe it or not, you are my son now. So is Link. I don't care where you came from or who your biological father is or isn't, all that matters is that I'm your father now. This is your home. We're your family."

Ed shifted uncomfortably and refused to meet Gordon's gaze. "Fine," he grumbled. "Whatever." He stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Ed leaned on the counter above the sink. He felt like he was going to be sick. The room spun around him and he closed his eyes, but it didn't stop the spinning. He fought to remain aware of his surroundings. He felt his consciousness slipping back into the void. He pinched himself. It was just barely enough to bring him back to Earth.

Ed glared at his reflection in the mirror. He hated the face that glared back. It wasn't his. Ed shouted angrily and punched the mirror. But his broken reflection still glared back at him. Ed rummaged through the drawers, desperately looking for something that would ease his pain. He was going through Barbara's old things when he found a razor. It was big enough that he could easily use it for his purposes.

Ed fixed the mirror, he pulled his hair back in a ponytail, and he kicked the trash can out from behind the toilet. He glared at his reflection once more, pulled on the pony tail, and with one, swift movement, took back his reflection and cut off his hair. Ed hacked away at his long, unkempt hair, until there was nothing left but a thin line of stubble. Gone was the braid, gone were the bangs, gone was the carefully measured antenna.

He looked at his reflection and slowly, his glare fell away. He no longer looked like Edward Elric.

He gazed at his new reflection with a renewed calmness. Quietly, he whispered to himself, "Eddie Gordon." He frowned. It sounded alien and unfamiliar. Like the name of a stranger. It was better than the name of a fake.

He knew Gordon meant it when he said he cared about them, but Ed wasn't certain he was ready to give up his rebellion. He wasn't sure if he was ready to admit he was wrong, even if he already knew he was. He felt like he'd dug himself into a hole and he wasn't sure if he could dig himself back out.

Slowly he ran his hands over his face, and was startled to find stubble. He reached again for the razor, but hesitated. He frowned at his reflection and clenched his fists. He looked down at his metal hand, then at the other hand. Gently, he traced scars he didn't remember getting, wondering if they were left behind from one of Edward Elric's adventures or left behind by Ganondorf. He hoped it was the latter, if only so that they were his and his alone.

He opened the bathroom door and quietly peeked out where Link and Gordon were playing Gin Rummy. As was usual with any competitive games, Link was winning. Ed hesitated before steeling his nerves and clearing his throat.

"Yes?" Gordon looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. Gordon started when he saw Ed's shaved head. Link's eyes widened in surprise.

"I… um…" Ed coughed nervously. "Can you teach me how to shave?" Ed asked quietly.

"It looks like you have that handled," Gordon pointed out.

"What?" Ed brushed a hand over his new, incredibly short hairdo. "Oh, um… yeah. Um… I meant facial hair…" Ed swallowed the knot in his throat.

"Alright, son," Gordon pushed himself to his feet, bemoaning his aging joints. "Be with you in a second."

"Thanks," Ed whispered, retreating back into the bathroom, leaving the door open behind him. He could hear Gordon stretching after sitting on floor for an extended period of time.

"Link, I'm not sure I can keep playing games like this with you," Gordon sighed.

"Aw, but it's fun when we're both sitting on the floor," Link pouted.

"It's not fun when I have to get back up," Gordon chuckled.

Ed could see Gordon ruffling Link's hair from his vantage point near the sink. He had to force the wave of jealousy down before it got the best of him. He had to convince himself that the more people who cared about Link the happier his little brother would be, but it was hard to get over his desire to protect Link from any potential threat.

"Can I play with Alma in the yard?" Link asked.

"Sure, but come back inside at the first sign of trouble."

"Okay!" Link chirped. He called Alma and practically skipped outside, grabbing one of Alma's toys on the way. Alma's three feet clicked excitedly against the linoleum in the kitchen, her left perked forward and she kept Link on her left side, so she could still see and hear him. She barely tripped over herself any more.

"You alright, Edward?" Gordon asked, leaning on the doorway.

Ed shrugged. "How would you feel if you couldn't trust your own thoughts and memories anymore."

Gordon didn't know how to answer that, so he changed the subject. "I've been planning on sending Link to a psychiatrist and a psychologist."

"Two different shrinks? What for?"

"I don't know what will help him yet."

"Help him with what? He's fine. I'm the one who's messed up."

"I know you want to protect him, Edward," Gordon said. "But there are things you can't shield him from. Particularly things that have already happened."

"He told you but he didn't tell me?" Ed winced.

"He had his reasons," Gordon said. "If it makes you feel any better, I think he was using me as a test before he told you."

"What kind of test?"

"The kind where he wanted to see if what he had to say would made me hate him or not. He still cares more about what you think about him than what I do. He could handle me hating him but he could never handle you hating him."

"That's… that's a hell of a secret," Ed frowned.

"It's not mine to tell. He'll tell you when he's ready," Gordon patted Ed on the back. "Something tells me, now that you're back on your feet, that's going to be very soon."

"Was it really three days?" Ed asked. "Three days and no one's found some way to stop this."

"Everyone's been throwing everything they can at it, no one's made a dent. The holes in the sky keep getting bigger and the monsters are getting stronger and bolder. Word is Superman's been injured."

"Well, shit," Ed hissed.

"I've had too much on my plate trying to keep Gotham from falling into anarchy to ask Batman for confirmation. Actually, last night when I lit the signal, Nightwing and Robin showed up alone. Not a lot of things can pull Batman from Gotham, but from what I can tell, he's working with the League full time."

"How many are dead?"

"Civilian casualties are low, thank God," Gordon sighed. "But any group that's fought back has taken some serious hits. Police, Military, especially metas. Do you understand now why I wouldn't let you go out there?"

"Yeah, I think I have an idea," Ed let out a heavy breath. "Does Link know?"

"I don't think so. I haven't exactly been keeping him updated. He's… younger than you, Edward. I don't want to scare him. Why do you think I'm playing card games with him, at a time like this? He doesn't deserve to be frightened."

"No, he doesn't." At least they had something they both agreed with. "Even if the world is about to be taken over."

"I'm sure someone will figure out something before that happens. They always do. In the meantime, what's this about shaving?"

"Yeah, um…" Ed coughed awkwardly. "I… um… noticed some stubble and… not that I can't handle it on my own but… I was wondering if you could… uh… give me some pointers."

"My little boy's already shaving," Gordon joked. "They grow up so fast. One minute you're signing the adoption papers, the next they're off to college."

"Haha," Ed rolled his eyes. "I wish, old man."

Gordon chuckled and clapped Ed on the back. "I'll go get my shaving cream and a razor."

"What, you don't dry shave?" Ed teased.

Gordon just laughed.

Quietly, Link sat in the kitchen, just out of sight but in ear range. He had seen a swarm of keese outside and decided to come back inside as soon as Alma went to the bathroom. He didn't feel like fending off twenty keese. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop on Gordon and Ed, but he still heard them. He hadn't known people were dying. He hadn't known they were losing. He thought everything was going to be fine. Gordon told him everything was going to be fine. He though he could trust him.

* * *

Later, after dinner, after Gordon went to work, Ed insisted they stay up and play a board game of their own. An uncomfortable silence had grown between them. They avoided it as best they could, but it was there. Ed was waiting for Link to tell him what he already told Gordon and Link was waiting for Ed to tell him what Gordon wouldn't. They both treated Link like he was a small child. He wouldn't go so far as to say that Ganondorf didn't frighten him, but he was capable of handling it. He handled it before. At least, he'd survived.

"How do you even play this game?" Ed grumbled, fumbling with his pieces. As much as he loved his little brother, he hated losing.

"You're not losing because of incompetence," Link said cheekily.

"Wise ass," Ed snapped. "Okay, come on," Ed got up and practically lifted Link to his feet. "Bed time, little bro."

"Aw, but I'm having fun!" Link pouted.

"Yeah, but if we keep playing we'll play all night and if Gordon comes back and we're still up I'll get in trouble."

"No, I don't want to stop!" Link complained, pulling against his brother. "I don't want to go to sleep! I'm not tired!"

"You are, too," Ed ruffled his hair. "What? You think I can't see you yawning? Even I'm tired right now."

"No!" Link shouted. "Don't go back to sleep!" Link pulled against Ed, trying to get him back to the board game.

"What's the matter?" Ed joked. "Afraid I won't wake up?"

Link's face paled. Tears rolled down his face and he hiccuped.

"Oh," Ed frowned, deflating. "You're actually scared of me… not waking up, aren't you?"

Link nodded. "It's just… I was really scared and… and he said you'd get better but I wasn't sure and I thought I'd lose you and…" Link started to cry.

"Hey, hey," Ed quickly went to comfort him. "It's okay. I'm better now, promise. I just needed some time to get my thoughts back together. But I'm fine now. You're not gonna lose me."

"But you said… you said you couldn't make any promises, remember?" Link hiccuped.

"Well, yeah, but…" Ed faltered. "You're not gonna lose me to this, alright?"

"What if the monsters get you?"

"The… the monsters can't get us if we stay here and let Gordon do his job. He'll… he'll sort everything out."

"But we're losing!" Link cried. "I heard you two talking and… and he said that the monsters keep getting stronger and everyone else keeps getting worse because… because people who can fight them keep getting hurt and… and…" Link descended into uncontrollable hiccuping.

"Hey," Ed wrapped Link in a hug and held him close, rubbing circles over his back and cooing comfortably in his ear. Link stood with his arms by his side, shaking with tears. "Don't worry, kid. There's nothing to be scared of. Sure, there are a few bumps in the road but it'll get better."

"He told me not to… not to worry but… but I'm really… really scared," Link hiccuped.

"I know, I know. It's scary, but everything is gonna be alright."

"Ed, I don't wanna fight," Link whimpered, wrapping his arms around Ed and sobbing.

"You… you don't have to fight," Ed said. "Why… why would you ever have to fight, kid? You know Gordon and I won't let anything hurt you."

"But who's stopping you two from getting hurt?" Link sniffled.

"That's not… that's not your job to worry about, kid," Ed ruffled Link's hair. "You just leave the fighting to us, alright?"

"But I can't anymore. People are getting hurt because of me not wanting to fight."

"Why? Is… is it because of what you told Gordon but not me?"

"I was gonna tell you but then you… you stopped. I don't know if I can talk about it anymore. I… I'm afraid you won't like me if I explain."

"Link, there's nothing you can say that will make me stop liking you," Ed said. "You're my little brother. You're my family, kid."

"So's Ganondorf," Link whispered.

"Him? I don't even remember him," Ed shrugged it off. "You're all I care about."

"What… what about… Commissioner… Commissioner Gordon?" Link asked.

"What about him?" Ed snapped.

"I like him," Link mumbled. "Is… is he family, too?"

"I dunno," Ed pouted.

"I think he thinks of us like that."

"Yeah, well," Ed fidgeted. "Big deal, right?"

"Ed, I wanna call him Dad," Link whispered.

"What for?" Ed snapped, pulling away from Link, crossing his arms, and glaring at nothing in particular. "You've got me, don't you?"

Link hugged his arms to his chest and couldn't look Ed in the eye. "Yeah, I guess," Link shrugged. "But… I want a dad, too."

"You don't need him," Ed snarled.

"Why?" Link cried, finally looking Ed in the face.

"Because."

"Because why?" Link narrowed his eyes and frowned at Ed.

Ed fidgeted. "Don't do that."

"Why?" Link asked. "Because you don't have a reason for hating him anymore?"

"I do too!" Ed snapped.

"What is it then! Tell me!"

"You like him more than me!" Ed shouted. He flinched when he realized he'd actually said it out loud.

Link tilted his head in confusion.

"You… told him things you won't tell me and… and now you want to call him 'Dad' and… and I thought I was more important to you… I thought you wanted me to protect you…"

"Ed, you're my big brother," Link leaned into Ed and rested us forehead on Ed's chest. "That's more than I ever hoped for. You'll always protect me. But… but I want a dad, too. Is it wrong to want a bigger family?"

"No, suppose not," Ed wrapped his arms around Link again. "I… I'm still… trying to separate my thoughts from the old memories. He didn't have such a great relationship with his old man and his little brother was everything to him. It's all I've had for the last seven months."

"You have the last seven months," Link said. "Those are real. They belong to you."

"It feels like they belong to him. Everything I did that didn't have to do with you was about Alphonse. And now… I… I don't even know him. He's a figment of someone else's memories that are in my head. How do I… how do I even know if they're real? The planet is gone. It's like it never existed."

"The Doctor knew about it without you having to tell him very much, remember?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"That means that there's a missing planet out there that you might be able to save, right? Even if… even with all of this memory stuff, you can still save an entire planet. That's… that's pretty cool, right?"

"Yeah, I guess it is, isn't it?" Ed laughed, ruffling Link's hair.

"And… and… why would Ganondorf give you all those fake memories unless it benefited him in some way? So… you know… maybe he's got the missing planet?"

"That's… actually true," Ed said.

"But first… I think… we should save the planet we're on, right?" Link asked. "I mean… we can't do anything if we've already lost."

"What'd you have in mind that the League hasn't probably already tried? I mean… they've got quite the line up. They've got the best metas, the best tech, and the best magic."

"They don't have me," Link said.

"Link, if you don't want to fight…"

"I don't, but… I was thinking about how cool it would be to have a brother who saved an entire planet and I figured that if it'd be cool if you did it then it'd be cool if I did it, too, right?"

"Well, I certainly wouldn't be upset," Ed grinned.

"Just one problem," Link mumbled. "We're not supposed to leave the house but… I'm pretty sure that those big Towers are the anchors keeping the holes in the sky open and making the monsters stronger."

"So we have to run away?"

Link nodded.

"Good thing I have a car, right?" Ed ruffled Link's hair.

"What about gas money?"

"That's what my job is for," Ed said.

"You're not gonna say no? Last time I asked you said no," Link mumbled.

"Last time?"

"Remember when I asked to go to Canada?"

"Yeah…" Ed frowned.

"That was last time," Link said.

"How… how did you know what was gonna happen?"

Link shrugged. "I had a nightmare. It wasn't like a normal dream. I was in a place and… and your mom was there. She was meditating. There were four mirrors with names of places on them and one of them was Canada."

"But that was before I opened my watch…"

"I know," Link said. "It was pretty freaky. G… Ganondorf was there, too… but… before he got there she disappeared and I woke up."

"You had a dream of Ganondorf's base?"

Link shrugged. "I guess so. Not the first time I've dreamt about him. Usually it's the future or just a regular nightmare, though. This dream was different."

"That was the same night the fax machine in Gordon's room was acting up."

"You think she was accidentally communicating with me when she was trying to fax Batman?"

"Maybe you piggybacked on her signal and ended up projecting to where she was."

"But she's your mom, not mine. Why didn't you also piggyback?"

Ed shrugged. "We still don't know if that's what happened. We should go to the tower in Canada. If we leave now, we should be there before Gordon knows we're missing. Then he can't stop us. And… you can tell me what you told him on the way."

Link shrugged. "Maybe on the way back…" Link said. "We should leave him a note, so he doesn't worry too much."

"Oh, yeah, because coming home and finding us gone with nothing but a note saying 'we've gone off to do the thing you don't want us to do' won't make him worry," Ed scoffed.

"Well, we won't write that," Link said. "Wait, aren't the roads blocked?"

"Sorta," Ed shrugged. "I checked the GCPD website on my phone. According to that, the city's not completely closed off. The roadblocks are strategically placed to keep the monsters away from the citizens. If I remember correctly, effected areas have been evacuated to guarded shelters."

"Well, at least that's okay. I hope the Canadian border isn't closed."

"It shouldn't be…" Ed frowned. "Guess we'll figure that part out when we get there, right? I'll go get the car ready."

"Yeah," Link nodded "I'll get my stuff." He started to go to their room when Alma whined from her crate. "What do we do with Alma?" Link asked.

"We should leave her," Ed said. "It's not like we're not coming back."

"Okay," Link said. "It's okay, Alma," Link went to her crate and opened it, petting her behind the ears. "We'll be right back. I promise."

* * *

When Gordon returned the next morning, he immediately collapsed in his bed. Now that Ed was awake, he knew there was someone talking care of Link so he didn't worry about Link not eating or getting upset at being left to fend for himself. He was almost asleep when he heard Alma crying to go to the bathroom from her crate in the living room.

Gordon groaned, covering his ears, waiting for Link to take her outside. After a few minutes all that happened was Alma cried louder. Angrily, Gordon crawled out of his bed and opened the boy's door, expecting to find his two boys asleep in their bed, oblivious to their dog's distress. When he found their beds empty, he panicked.

He went back to the living room, where he found a note on top of Alma's crate, scribbled in Link's carefully practiced handwriting.

 _We had to leave for about a day. Sorry. Don't worry about us. We're fine. We should be back in the afternoon maybe. Sorry. Alma probably will need to pee by the time you get this. – Link_

"Dammit!" He shouted, running his hand through his hair. "Dammit. Dammit, boys." He took a shaky breath.

Alma whimpered sadly from her crate. They hadn't said where they were going, so he couldn't go after them. He'd have to take care of poor little Alma first. His hands were tired and he fumbled a little with the handle to her crate. She nuzzled him, sniffing for Link, and tilted her head sadly when she couldn't smell her boy.

"What're you looking at?" Gordon grunted. He let Alma out and watched her sniff around the yard, looking for both a place to relieve herself and for Link. He sighed. He wasn't sure if he could handle anything happening to them. He hated how there was little he could do about it but take this time to finally get a full eight hours sleep for the first time in three days.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	33. The Lynel Sleeps Tonight

**Chapter 33**

 **The Lynel Sleeps Tonight**

* * *

If Ed hadn't've been sleeping for the last three days, he might have admitted he was having trouble staying awake. Link fell asleep in the passenger seat while they were crossing the Tricroner Bridge, his elbow on the armrest, his face pressed against his small fist, his glasses askew on his face, and his forehead against the window. He looked so peaceful and happy, sleeping there.

Ed looked at him and smiled. Even if everything he knew was false and everything he'd done had been for nothing, he still had his little brother. Even if Link wasn't as innocent or naïve as he wanted him to be, he was still kind and sweet and gentle. Everything Ed wished he could be but wasn't. It felt nice to love someone as much as he loved his little brother.

Ed stopped for gas at a Seven/Eleven somewhere in New York. He bought a large coke to keep him awake. The clerk at the counter looked nervous and was constantly glancing at the door, fingering a shotgun in one hand. He didn't have the shotgun to deter robbers from stealing donuts, that was certain.

Ed made it all the way to the border without running into any land monsters and any flying monsters ignored them. He had to speed past a particularly large bat monster and nearly got a ticket, which he found a little bizarre. When the traffic cop saw the monster, he diverted his attention to keeping it off Ed's tail.

By the time the sun started rise on the horizon, Quebec was just in sight. Quietly, Link blinked awake, woken by the light of the morning sun.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Ed ruffled Link's hair. "How's your French?"

"French?" Link yawned, adjusting his glasses on his face and rubbing his nose where the grips dug uncomfortably in his face.

"Yeah, you know, French. We're in Quebec."

"We made it?" Link blinked.

"Yeah, see," Ed nodded to the road ahead, where the Montreal skyline rose up in the distance. Just in front, rising from the water, was a giant black tower, reaching all the way up into one of the cracks in the sky. A swarm of something circled the top of the tower. They could just barely make out a humanoid form flying around the tower, trying to find a way in. "That's where we're going, right?" Ed asked.

Link shrugged. "Probably," he mumbled. "I'm hungry."

"Me to," Ed said. "Why don't you check my phone for any diners or grocery stores or something."

"Okay," Link shifted in his seat and picked up Ed's phone. He scrolled though the map until he found a diner that wasn't closed until further notice. All he could find was a coffee shop ten minutes away. The website's header said 'these doors close for no alien'. Link supposed the monsters were aliens. They were as alien as he was, anyway.

"Ed, am I bad?" Link asked quietly as they drove to the coffee shop.

"Bad?" Ed laughed. "Where'd you get an idea like that? Of course you're not bad."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure."

"But you don't know everything."

"I don't have to know everything to know you're not bad."

"Running away was my idea," Link mumbled.

"I had it first, remember? We just didn't go all the way through with it."

"Yeah, but… we should have told him where we were going… we should have asked for permission. We're gonna get in trouble."

"It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission."

"Only if there's forgiveness to be given," Link whispered. "What if he's so mad he sends us away?"

"What? You think he'd be so scared of losing us he'd purposely lose us? He's never gonna send us away, kid. If anything he's gonna lock us in our room," Ed joked.

Ed hadn't have expected Link to turn green. "He said he wouldn't," he cried.

"What, lock us in our room?"

Link nodded. "Like… like Black Mask…" Link sniffled.

"He…"

"Kept me in a closet," Link whispered. "For two weeks. I stopped… it got really hard to breath near the end… then… then I woke up and I couldn't see and…"

"We survived, kid," Ed hissed. "That's over. Let's not think about it, alright?"

"But… but it happened…" Link sniffled. "I can't see without my glasses anymore. I'm never gonna get better than I am right now."

"Kid, stop," Ed gripped the steering wheel so hard, the knuckles on his left hand turned white and his metal hand out dents in the wheel.

"I'm sorry," Link wiped tears from his cheeks with his sleeve, knocking his glasses askew once more. "I didn't mean to…"

"I know," Ed sighed. "I didn't mean to scare you, either." He reached over and ruffled Link's hair. "We're pretty messed up, aren't we?" Ed joked.

Link didn't answer. He just sulked, pulling his knees up and wrapping his face in his arms. "I'm scared, Ed," Link whispered, just barely loud enough for Ed to hear him through his arms and over the sputtering engine of the car.

"You don't want to face the Tower, do you?" Ed asked.

Link shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"What for? This shit's scary."

"But I dragged you all the way to Canada and I didn't even stay awake with you and now that we're here I don't want too and that doesn't seem fair."

"I'll get over it," Ed laughed. "Let's eat before we start making more plans. I could really use some coffee right now."

"Thought you didn't like coffee?"

"I just drove all night. I think I'm ready to accept that coffee can have its uses. Besides, pretty sure a coffee shop doesn't sell soda, so… coffee's my best bet."

"I'm sorry," Link mumbled again.

"It's not your fault, kid. Besides, this isn't the first all nighter I've pulled…" Ed was about to explain when he remembered the memory wasn't his and he faltered. His face grew dark.

"Ed?" Link asked.

Ed didn't respond.

"Ed!" Link practically punched him.

"Ow," Ed winced. "What was that for?"

"You were blacking out!" Link cried. "I thought we were gonna crash!"

"I… sorry," Ed ran a hand over his head, startling for a moment when he felt stubble instead of the familiar long hair. "Sorry, I'm fine."

"Okay," Link shifted in his seat.

"Hey, there's a parking space right in front," Ed smiled. "How's that for convenient, kid?" He grinned and Link and ruffled his hair again.

"Cool," Link mumbled.

Ed sighed. Link wasn't as happy as he wanted him to be. "Don't worry, kid," Ed said. "I've got your back, remember? You don't have to afraid with me around."

Link's only response was a small, squeaky grunt and wiping his face once more.

"You want a doughnut for breakfast, kid?" Ed ruffled Link's hair.

Link shrugged.

"Maybe they have pie," Ed offered. "You'd like that, right?"

Link shrugged again.

"Well, I'd like it," Ed said. "Come on." He got out of the car and Link followed, but with his head down and his feet dragging. "Jeez, kid, the way you're acting you'd think I kidnapped you or something," Ed ruffled his hair.

"Sorry," Link mumbled. "It's cold," he shivered.

"Well, yeah," Ed shrugged. "It's Canada in winter. 'Course it's cold."

"Oh," Link said.

"Here, I brought your coat," Ed went to the trunk and pulled out Link's coat. He practically put it on for Link. Link was upset, but he didn't protest.

The coffee shop was empty but for a timid, nervous employee, who looked like she'd been talked into this with overtime pay. Ed pretty much sauntered over to the counter. The girl wasn't much older than him. Link guessed he was experimenting with a new personality to see if it felt more like him than his old one did.

"Hey, where is everyone," he said cheekily.

"Fled the Tower," the girl squeaked, glancing out the window. It was visible just over the building across the street. "And the monsters."

"Yeah, that'll kill business," Ed turned his head to glance at the tower. Ed awkwardly cleared his throat. He wasn't very good at being suave and flirty. He was much better at being brash, cocky, and arrogant, an entirely different form of overconfidence. "Hey, kid," Ed clapped Link on the back. "What do you want for breakfast?"

Link shrugged. He took a breath, and was startled to find that one of his teeth gave way when his tongue brushed up against it. Curiously, he explored. "Ed," Link tugged on Ed's sleeve. "Ed, my tooth's loose," he whispered in awe.

"That so? Then you'd better not have any caramel chews for a while," Ed joked.

"But you said my teeth'd fall out if I didn't brush my teeth so I brushed them but they're falling out anyway!" Link complained.

"Yeah, and I also told you that you're supposed to lose your baby teeth, remember?"

"Yeah, but… I thought the baby ones were only the front ones," Link looked down at his feet and blushed. "They're the smallest."

"You have two complete sets. The only ones you don't have two sets of are the wisdom teeth, but you don't have to worry about those yet."

"Okay," Link mumbled. "I'm sorry."

"You know, kid, it is possible to apologize too much," Ed ruffled his hair.

"Yeah, and it's also possible not to apologize enough. I think I'll take my chances," Link stuck his tongue out at Ed.

"Smart ass," Ed playfully smacked Link in the back of the head and laughed. Link giggled happily.

The girl behind the counter also giggled, and visibly relaxed. "Your brother is cute," she said with a smile.

Link blushed and hid behind Ed. The girl giggled again.

"Yeah, he's a little gremlin sometimes, but he's alright," Ed ruffled Link's hair yet again. It was starting to get more annoying than endearing.

Link begrudgingly swatted Ed's hand away and fixed his hair as best be could. At this point, Ed had completely ruined it. He stuck his tongue out at Ed again.

Ed ordered them two breakfast wraps from the pastry section, and the girl liked Link so much, she gave him a hot chocolate for free. Ed also bought a double shot espresso. He felt like he needed a triple shot, but that was probably just the sleep deprivation talking, so he ignored it. He'd save the triple shots for when he made it to college.

Since they were the only customers and she was the only barista, Ed continued to talked with the girl while she made them their food. It made Link happy to see Ed getting better, but he was worried it was just a mask Ed was wearing. He figured if Ed wore the mask long enough it'd stick and maybe he'd get better for real. It might also be bad, but Link didn't want to start crying again so he decided to be content to play with his loose tooth and his breakfast wrap.

"So, what state are you from?" The girl asked.

"How do you know we're from the States?" Ed asked.

"Your license plate," she pointed to their car. "I can't read the state from here, but I know it's not Canadian."

"New Jersey," Ed said.

"Oh! Do you know Snooki?"

"Look, anyone who's anyone knows Snooki's not from New Jersey, she's from Long Island. And no, I do not know Snooki."

"What brings you here? Tourism hasn't exactly been the best the last couple of days. Not even the locals want to leave their homes."

"We want to see the Tower for ourselves," Ed said.

"You want to see the Tower? You realize it's swarming with monsters, right? Anyone who gets too close to it is killed. Superman couldn't even make a dent in it. What could you possibly do?"

"Brute force isn't the answer to everything," Ed smirked.

"Neither could Batman," the girl insisted. "Look, you can see Hawkwoman trying with her mace. That repels magic."

"The Tower's not just magic," Link mumbled. "It's held together by evil… probably… just… just a guess… I guess." He wasn't sure if they heard him.

"I really don't think you should go there," the girl whispered to Ed. "Especially not with your little brother."

"Don't worry about it," Ed shrugged her off. "We're more than capable of handling ourselves."

"But… but… people have died!" The girl protested. "You're… what? Sixteen? Your brother can't be older than ten…"

"I'm eleven," Link pouted.

"Like that makes it better," the girl snapped. "Look, I'm sorry…"

"That's very Canadian of you," Ed smirked.

"Shut up. No," she stopped him. "I'm sorry, but I can't… I don't want to let you just…" she made an upset sound and slammed he'd fist on the counter. "What can I say that will make you change your mind?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Ed snapped. "You're fine with the monsters taking over, maybe? How about, no business, that's fine."

"But why you?"

Ed glanced back at Link, who was sitting in an armchair. His feet didn't hit the ground and he swung them back and forth while he sipped at his hot chocolate. He was avoiding looking outside and he was avoiding looking at them.

Ed was about to come up with some half-assed answer, when the sky outside grew dark. A bolt lighting arched from the Tower and blasted the ground just outside the coffee shop. It sent the cars a few inches the air, but did no real damage to them.

Simultaneous to the lighting strike, Link felt a burning pain in his head and doubled over, clutching his hair with his hands and dropping his mug to the floor, breaking it and spilling hot chocolate everywhere. Neither Ed nor the girl noticed, they were too busy looking outside.

"Shit!" Ed hissed, jumping out of his skin. "Does… does that happen often?"

"No!" The girl shivered. "That's never happened before!"

Link cried out in pain and frustration. His ears started to ring with a keening shriek. Black smoke billowed from where the lighting struck, obscuring the entire road. Ed heard the sound as well, but it didn't cause him any pain and to him it sounded at a lower pitched. There was a flash of light and a loud thump. The ringing stopped. Link could feel a trickle of blood coming from one ear. His headache was fading, but not as fast as he'd like.

"Link!" Ed noticed Link's distress too late. "Link, what's wrong? What happened?" He rushed to his little brother, his boots crunching over the broken mug. "Dammit," he hissed.

"I… I'll clean it," the girl said.

"No… no, it's fine," Ed held up a hand to stop her. "I got it."

"Really, it's no trouble," the girl insisted, grabbing a rag from under the counter. "It's my job."

"I got it," Ed insisted, clapping his hands together and fixing the mug. Even the hot chocolate gathered up from the floor and refilled the cup. "The… hot chocolate's not clean, but at least it's not on the floor."

"Wow," the girl let out a breath in aw. "You… I didn't know you were a superhero! You… you're not wearing a mask, though?"

Ed shrugged. "Fixing mugs isn't exactly the top notch stuff of heroes," he said. He wasn't being humble, he was being cautious.

"What else can you do?" The girl asked, all thoughts of the lighting strike and black smoke out of her mind.

Ed shrugged. He was more concerned with Link than showing off to a cute girl. "Link, you're bleeding."

"Oh!" The girl snapped back to reality and quickly rushed to Ed's side. "Um… here. Sorry."

Ed snickered.

"No… I mean… never mind," she shoved the towel into Ed's chest and hurried back to the counter, blushing furiously, but she didn't go behind the counter.

"Link?" Ed frowned, holding the rag to Link's ear and wiping away the blood. "What happened?"

"I dunno," Link sniffled. "The lighting hurt me," he mumbled. "I don't know why."

"It'll be…" Ed was about to tell Link that everything would be okay when a very loud, very angry sound interrupted him.

Their heads snapped to the window, where the smoke was taking shape, and before long, a giant, horned lion centaur man creature stood in the middle of the road, armed with a huge battle axe with an axehead the size of a sedan. It was a similar shape as the monster that attacked them in the GCPD headquarters, only this one had form. The monster raised it's head in the air and took a deep whiff.

None of them dared move. It didn't help.

The monster's head turned to them and it's glowing orange and yellow eyes narrowed. It was looking right at Link. It snorted angrily, and smoke billowed out of it's huge nostrils. It opened it's mouth and began to inhale. There was a light at the center of the wind funnel.

"Run!" Ed turned to the girl. "Get out of here!"

She looked like a deer caught in headlights. She wasn't going to move in time. Link was still reeling from whatever the lighting did to him and his reaction time was also slower than Ed would have liked. Ed grabbed Link, dragged him to the girl, clapped his hands together, and drew up the strongest protective barrier he could as fast as he could, wrapping one arm around his little brother and one around the girl, pulling them into a huddle behind the transmuted stone wall.

No sooner were they safe did the monster release three fiery blasts from its maw. The first blast shattered the glass of the front windows and splintered the window frames, completely destroying the front of the coffee shop. The second blast hit Ed's stone barrier, cracking it. The third blast shattered the barrier, but didn't break through. Pieces of stone rained down upon them, but Ed shielded Link and the girl with his body, taking the brunt of the debris in the back, winding him and tattering his jacket, but it didn't hurt him as much as he'd expected. He'd have bruises, but he'd live.

"Brother!" Link cried when Ed grunted under the stress.

The girl put her hand over her mouth and gasped, "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine," Ed hissed. "Just go!"

The girl squeaked and ran for the back door of the shop. Ed got up, pulling off his ruined coat and tossing it aside. He faced the monster with no fear, taking up a fighting stance. Link pushed himself to his feet and mimicked Ed's stance, but was too shaken to mimic his bull hardy tenacity.

"Kid, you should go, too. I'll distract it, you go for the Tower."

"I'm not going anywhere without you," Link answered, still shivering. There was still blood trickling down his ear.

Before they could argue the matter, the monster reared on it's hind hooves, swirled its massive battle axe in circles above its head, and in a deep, animalistic boom, shouted, "Surrender to your overlord! Surrender to the mighty Dark Lord, Ganondorf! Surren… der!" A mace collided with the back of its head, interrupting it's tirade and knocking it senseless.

"Mouthy, isn't he?" Hawkwoman swooped down and landed between them and the stunned monster. "Go, I've got it from here."

"Wait!" Link grabbed her wrist. "It can talk!"

"Yeah, so?"

"This is the first one I've ever seen that can talk!"

"Sure, and how many have you seen?"

"Well, this kind? Just the one," Link admitted. "But I've never heard any kind of monster speak before!"

"Well, what do you want to do about it?"

"I don't know! But… but if it can talk, we shouldn't kill it, right? That means it's smart and stuff, right? Right?" He looked to Ed for confirmation.

"Yes, definitely," Ed agreed.

"We can question it!" Link insisted. "Maybe it knows stuff!"

"That's a good idea, kid," Hawkwoman adjusted her mace and smirked. "I'll be sure to do that after I knock it senseless. Now get out of here before you get hurt."

"As if. I've got questions," Ed snarled. "That thing's boss has my mom."

"I wasn't aware anyone had been taken?"

Before Ed could even think of where to begin, they were reminded that this was not the time or place to have a complicated conversation. The monster regained its senses and pulled its axe back up, readying a swing at Hawkwoman.

"Look out!" Link cried, cowering away.

Hawkwoman deflected the attack with her mace. She would have just jumped out of the way, but Ed and Link would have been hit instead if she had. She hit her mace against the axe so hard that both were nearly knocked out of their wielders' hands.

Link quickly drew his bow, but he only had five arrows left. He really should have gotten around to restocking his quiver sooner. The only other things he had left were his bunny hood, stone mask, some bombs, the Terminan Mirror Shield, and the Fierce Deity Mask, which he did not want to use. He sorely missed his swords. Ed looked too preoccupied with his own plan of action to assist Link.

Ed transmuted his spear out of one of the tables, but at he held's it's familiar shape in his hands, he felt his stomach churn. It wasn't his design. Of course, it wasn't Elric's either, but that wasn't the point. He quickly pushed the thoughts aside. There was a bigger, fire spitting problem at hand.

"Deserter!" The monster pointed his axe at Ed. "Your mother filled your head with stories and lies."

"All I have are stories and lies," Ed snarled. "And it's not my mom's fault."

He readied his spear and faced the monster. The monster was not at all intimidated. It snarled flames and smoke and gripped its axe harder. The monster reared onto it's hind legs,

[Fight, Link jumps on its back and wrecks it with Hawkwoman's magic repelling mace. It dies and leaves a body behind because it's smart enough and not corrupted enough not to be a normal monster. Also, Ed's automail gets trapped under some rubble.]

Link scrambled away from the body, the sticky, purple, black, and red dripped down the mace and onto his hands. It was trickling out of the monster's mouth. Link hadn't expected it to persist. Every other monster he killed had burst into flame and smoke, but this one bled. He didn't like it.

He dropped the mace and looked down at his hands. For a second, he saw green blood instead of the disgusting gunk and he could smell the brimstone of Ganondorf's castle and the revolting, sour smell of corrupted blood overwhelmed him. His vision started to darken, the sounds around him faded, and his breath caught in his throat.

"Link!" Ed yanked at his arm, but it wouldn't come lose. "Dammit!" If it had been his leg, he wouldn't have this problem. He'd call to Hawkwoman for help, but she was still winded and he had to get to Link. "Dammit," he hissed. The only thing on his prosthesis that he could reach was the disconnect switch. Link didn't look like he was breathing.

Ed flipped the switch and he felt the telltale tingling sensation as the nerve connectors severed. Reconnecting it wouldn't be fun, but he had to get to Link. He had to protect his little brother.

Ed staggered to his feet and ran to Link, kneeling down in front of him and cupping Link's face in his hand. "Link? Kid?"

Hawkwoman finally managed to get back to her feet. She was holding her side with one hand and propping herself up on some rubble with the other. She hobbled over to them and knelt down next to Ed, picking up her mace.

"You fought well," she said. Then she noticed Ed's arm. "Are you hurt?" She gasped quietly.

Ed shook his head, "It's over there," he nodded his head to where he left his arm pinned under the rubble. "If you could get it for me, I'd really appreciate it."

Hawkwoman grunted and, since she was much stronger than Ed, she had a much easier time freeing his arm from the fallen debris.

"Link," Ed pulled Link into a hug. "It's alright, kid. I'm here. We're safe."

"I killed it," Link whispered. "I didn't mean to kill it, Ed. I didn't mean to."

"It's alright," Ed cooed.

"It was gonna hurt you," Link sniffled.

"I know," Ed said. "You didn't do anything wrong. We're both okay."

"You arm…?" Link reached a hand up and gingerly brushed against the torn sleeve and empty port.

"It doesn't hurt," Ed said. "It's… I've had it for as long as I can remember," he joked, trying to keep a strong face for Link.

"Here," Hawkwoman handed Ed his prosthesis.

"Thanks," Ed took it and put it in his lap. He was regretting taking it off just to get to Link. He took a deep breath, lined up the connectors to the port, took another deep breath, clenched his eyes shut, and shoved his prosthesis back into place. He hissed in pain as the nerve endings in his stump flared, reaching out for the prosthetic nerve connectors. He began reciting the periodic table as he waited for the pain to stop. If Link or Hawkwoman noticed his distress, they didn't say anything. He appreciated their discretion.

"You two should go back home," Hawkwoman said. "Leave this to the professionals."

"I'm the only professional," Link whispered.

"We can't go back," Ed snapped. "Not yet. We're taking down that Tower."

"How?" Hawkwoman snapped back. "You're children!"

"That doesn't give you the right to underestimate us," Ed snarled, getting up and glaring at Hawkwoman. She was much taller than him.

"Look at him!" Hawkwoman gestured to Link. "Does that look like someone who can handle this kind of thing?"

"They're not supposed to stay like this," Link said, getting to his feet. He wiped the gunk off on his pants. "I'm alright, honest. Just… just a little startled." Link didn't feel alright, but he wanted the bird lady to stop yelling at them.

"Have you fought these before?"

Link nodded. "Long's I can r'member," he mumbled, shying behind Ed.

"And you?" She looked to Ed.

"I can't remember much," Ed admitted.

"It recognized you."

"It's none of your business."

"You said the monsters had your mother, do you know where they're keeping her?"

Ed remembered the in the video his mother left him, she singled Hawkwoman out as a bitch and specified not to tell her anything. "Why do you care anyway? Aren't you the only person who's ever been bunted from the League?"

"That's none of your business," Hawkwoman snapped.

"Well then, it looks like we're even," Ed snapped. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a tower to destroy." He grabbed Link's hand and shoved past her.

Hawkwoman reached out and put a hand on Ed's shoulder, stopping him. "I'm trying to help you," she explained.

"Well, you're doing a piss poor job of it," Ed snarled.

He stormed out of the rubble, pausing for a moment, then when Hawkwoman flew out of the remains of the coffee shop, he clapped his hands together and reassembled it as best he could.

"There, good as new," Ed said. "What do you think, kid?"

"Looks like it was never hit by a giant lion man centaur," Link said.

"Perfect!" Ed ruffled Link's hair. It made Link feel a little better.

Just as Link was about to ask how they were going to get the body out with only a normal sized door, the monster turned black and then evaporated into smoke. Even with its supreme intellect, it was still a corrupted monster made of evil and hatred. That made Link feel a little better about killing it.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	34. The Sound of Silence

**Chapter 34**

 **The Sound of Silence**

* * *

They went back to the car and drove as close as they could to the Tower. Unfortunately, the Tower was in the middle of a lake so the closest they could get was the parking lot nearby.

"Hey, you think I should have gotten her number?" Ed asked.

"The girl from the coffee place?" Link asked.

"Yeah, I didn't get her number. We clicked, right?"

"You didn't even get her name," Link huffed.

"Oh, right," Ed frowned. "That's important."

"Yeah," Link agreed.

"Well, how are we gonna get over there?"

"The water's kinda frozen," Link said. "We could walk out on that."

"Hmm," Ed frowned. "Not a fan of walking on thin ice."

"You could transmute the ice thicker?"

"Yeah, I could," Ed agreed. "Damn, I left my coat in the coffee shop," he hissed. "Now I'm gonna be cold."

"You could go back?"

"Nah, too late for that. I'll just leave it," Ed shrugged.

"Where's your wallet and stuff?"

"In my pants. I don't put stuff in my jacket pocket, it… oh… never mind," Ed hissed.

"More fake memories?"

"Yeah," Ed sighed.

"Sucks," Link mumbled.

"Yeah," Ed sighed again. "Well, come on. That Tower's not gonna take care of itself, now is it?"

They got out of the car and faced the Tower. It loomed over them. About fifty feet of slushy, half frozen water stood between them and the base of the giant monolith. There was no visible door. The swarm of keese was gone, but they could swear they could just make out beady little yellow eyes at the top of the Tower, glaring down at them from their little keese perches.

"Do you really think we can do this?"

"Of course we can!" Ed puffed. "Did you see that giant monster we just took down? We can do anything, right, little bro?"

"Really?" Link asked, awe in his voice. "You really think so?"

"Of course I do! We're unstoppable!"

"Yeah!" Link grinned.

"Now let's go kick some bad guy ass!"

"Yeah!" Link jumped into into the air a little and pumped his fist into the air.

Ed laughed and ruffled his hair. Come rain or shine, danger or safety, as long as Ed could make Link smile, there was nothing else he really needed.

Just then, Ed's phone rang. The caller ID was the middle finger emoji five times, which meant it was Gordon calling.

"Shit," Ed hissed. "Should I answer?"

Link shrugged.

"I… I can't let it ring to dial," Ed frowned.

"That would be rude," Link said. "And it'd make him worry."

"We left a note."

"It was pretty vague…"

"Fine," Ed sighed. "Hello?"

" _Where the hell are you‽_ " Gordon shouted.

"Uh…" Ed flinched at the sound. His phone was at normal volume; they'd awoken 'bad cop'.

" _Edward, answer me,_ " Gordon snarled. " _Or so help me I will have this call traced._ "

"I… um… we're in Canada," he winced.

" _Canada! What the hell are you doing in Canada‽ Is Link with you?_ "

"Yeah…"

" _Oh, well I'm so happy to hear that your passports came through in time for this lovely vacation,_ " Gordon snapped. " _You get your brother and you come back home this instant, you hear me‽_ "

"We're kinda busy…" Ed mumbled.

" _Busy? Busy! Is that the best excuse you've got‽_ "

"What else am I supposed to say!" Ed shouted. "I…"

" _I don't want excuses, I want you here, where you're safe._ "

"I… I think they're after us," Ed said quietly, trying to keep Link from hearing him. "We were attacked a couple minutes ago by a similar… thing. It recognized me."

" _What?_ "

"Look… I… I don't think anywhere is safe for us," Ed said. "I think that they're targeting us specifically."

" _Did it recognize Link?_ "

"Well… no… but…"

" _Then there is no us, there is only you putting Link in danger. You're…_ "

Ed hung up. They didn't have time to ask for permission and as much as he didn't want to ask for forgiveness, he didn't think they had much of a choice. Plus, he didn't like the way the conversation was going.

"Is he mad?" Link whispered.

"That would be putting it mildly," Ed mumbled, pocketing his phone. "Well, we're right here. I'm not turning around now because some asshole told me to…"

"He's not some asshole, he's our legal guardian…"

"Yeah, well I'm not giving up just because he wants us to. We're here, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So, you with me? Let's show this jackass he can't come onto our planet without having to mess with us!"

"Okay…" Link mumbled. He knew Ed didn't know how powerful Ganondorf was. But he wasn't sure that if Ed did know, it wouldn't humble him very much. Link preferred Ed cocky, anyway. His confidence could be infectious at times and Link was often sorely lacking in his own.

Ed clapped his hands together and reinforced the ice as far as he could, heading towards the tower. He tested it, not that he didn't think he did a good job, he just wanted to make absolutely certain it was safe for Link. When he was satisfied with the density of the ice, he walked farther out and Link followed. Ed periodically reinforced the ice as they went.

His arm felt a little loose. He shouldn't have taken it off, but he did. He had to get to Link. At the time, it seemed like a good idea.

Ed's phone started ringing again. He dropped the call without answering it.

From up close, the tower was even bigger. It was about the size of the the Wayne Enterprises Tower, the tallest building in Gotham, with a smooth black surface like glass. The base of the tower protruded a foot from the ice, but there was no doorway. They did a full lap around it, it had a length and width of their house, despite it's towering height.

"Pretty damn tall, huh?" Ed whistled. "Hope there's an elevator," he joked.

Link mumbled a small, halfhearted laugh.

"Well, better get on inside, hm?" Ed said, rolling his shoulders.

He took his glove off his left hand and pressed it against the glass wall. Usually, he could determine the chemical makeup of an object just by touching it with his hand, like some kind of sixth sense. He expected it to be made of obsidian, silicon dioxide at the very least, because of its texture, but it wasn't. It wasn't made of anything. He could feel his hand on the structure, he could feel the smooth, cold glass, but his sixth sense wasn't working.

"What the…" Ed frowned. "This is glass, right?" He looked to Link.

Link shrugged.

"It looks like glass, it feels like glass…"

"Does it taste like glass?" Link giggled.

"Hey, rule number one of science, kid; don't lick the spoon," Ed laughed. "Or the giant fake glass tower."

"How do you know it's not glass if it looks like glass and it feels like glass?"

"Because I can touch something and know what it's made out of."

"How do you touch the air?"

"I'm always touching the air," Ed explained. "It's like smell but with my skin."

"Gross," Link wrinkled his nose.

"It's actually pretty handy for what I do. And it's not smell, or there's no bad smells or anything. Just cold, hard facts."

"Like if logic was a sense?"

"Yeah, exactly."

"So why can't you skin smell the tower?"

"I prefer to call it my sixth sense, you little weirdo," Ed ruffled Link's hair. "And it's like it's not there. There's not even air. There's just… nothing."

"Bumkus," Link offered.

"Yeah! Bumkus!" Ed threw his hands in the air.

Ed's phone started to ring. He considered answering it for a few moments, but then hung up again. Shortly after, Link's phone rang. Link froze. He didn't want to answer it, but he didn't want to not answer it either. Ed ignored it and continued inspecting the tower, and it ended up ringing to voicemail. Link felt bad, but it was too late now.

"Maybe I should try?" Link asked.

"Can't hurt can it?" Ed shrugged. "I've got nothing."

Gingerly, Link reached out with his left hand. He hesitated for a moment before pressing his hand, open palmed, against the hard, smooth surface. At first, he felt nothing. Then, he felt a warm tingling in the center of his palm, that slowly grew to uncomfortable prickling. He was about to pull his hand away when his birthmark started to glow and the tower began absorbing him.

"Ed! Help!" Link cried, pulling away. "It hurts."

The tower bubbled around his hand like tar and it sucked him in, like he'd stepped in a tar pit without realizing it, only sideways.

"Link!" Ed ran to him and tried to pull his hand out, but to no avail.

"It hurts," Link whimpered. It felt like flaming hot needles were poking into his skin and twisting around. He'd had worse pain, but it still sucked.

"Hold on, I'll get you out," Ed said.

Ed clapped his hands together and tried to transmute the tower off of Link. He held in his mind that the tower was made of classic volcanic glass. When it didn't work, he tried to dismantle without reassembling it, which he could do without knowing what something was made of. That didn't work either.

The tower was sucking Link in faster. It had him all the way up his shoulder and the rate was increasing exponentially. Ed grabbed Link's arm again and tried pulling. It absorbed his hands.

"Ed?" Link panicked, looking up to his brother for guidance.

"Well, I guess this is it, then," Ed said, and the tower ate them both.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	35. No! That's Impossible!

**Chapter 35**

 **No! That's Impossible!**

* * *

Gordon paced his living room, Alma Luna looking up at him and tilting her head every time he turned around the pace the length of the room again. Ed wasn't answering his phone or responding to his texts and now Link wasn't either. City Hall had been overrun and the GCPD headquarters was the next target. The Batsignal had been smashed and even if it hadn't, Batman hadn't been showing up anyway, just the Boy Wonder and the rest of the motley crew that made up the Batman family, or the Batfam, as the kids called it.

He ended up collapsing on the couch, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He was so terrified that his boys were in danger, he could hardly worry about the end of the world.

"What do you think, Alma?" Gordon sighed, looking at the little puppy. "Should I violate protocol and take a chopper and go after them?"

Alma tilted her head, trying to decide if any part of what Gordon said involved her getting a pet or a treat.

"I'd bet my badge they're in Montreal, trying to break into that giant pillar, or whatever it is."

Alma tilted her head the other way. Her perky puppy ears flopped to one side.

"I told Edward not to leave the damn house," Gordon sighed. "But he doesn't listen to me! Why doesn't he listen to me? Doesn't he know I'm just trying to protect him?" He looked up from his hands and directly at Alam. "Do you think he knows that?"

Alma wuffed, sniffing his hands, and then his face, her little wet nose brushing against his. She licked his mustache and snorted.

Gordon sighed, giving her pet on the head. "Suppose he knows," he grumbled. "He just doesn't care."

Alma leaned into his hand enthusiastically and thumped her skinny puppy tail against the floor.

"But Link not answering his phone…" Gordon sighed. "That's not like him. His brother's a bad influence on him. Dragging him off, who knows where, in the cold… to save the world."

Alma wuffed again and licked the air, throughly enjoying the pat.

"There are worse things," Gordon chuckled. "I should at least be grateful Edward's a bullheaded hero and not a bullheaded delinquent." He sighed. "They're both just so young. I want to protect them. Is that so wrong?"

Alma scooted over to him and rested her head in his lap, closing her eyes in content.

"Why can't they be like you, Lu?" Gordon chuckled. "You appreciate me, don't you, girl? You accept my love." He pet her with both hands and she wiggled with excitement. "Oh, you're a good girl, Alma. You're a good girl!" He laughed. For a brief moment, he forgot the world was ending and his little boys were out in the middle of it.

Alma noticed his distress immediately, and began to whine. He'd stopped petting her.

Gordon leaned back and pulled out his phone. He tried one last time to call them, dialing Link. This time it went straight to voicemail. It didn't even ring. Gordon let his head rest against the back of the couch and, before he knew it, he'd drifted off to sleep. Not even the incredible worrying of a parent could keep him up after three days of almost non stop transitioning between being a full time father and a full time cop.

Alma crawled up onto the couch and cuddled up to him, wagging her tail and closing her eyes, oblivious to world falling apart outside.

* * *

The inside of the Tower was dark. At some point during the struggle with the wall, Link dropped his glasses. He just really hoped he dropped them on the inside of the tower and not the outside. He couldn't see shapes without them.

"Ed, I… I can't find my glasses," Link mumbled.

"Just a sec," Ed fumbled with his phone and turned on the flashlight. He swung the light around, careful not to move around too much before he found them lest he step on them. "Here," he found then a few feet away from Link and handed them to him.

Once Link could see again, Ed shined the light in front of them. He expected to see the other side of the inside of the Tower, since it's base wasn't that big, but it extended into blackness.

"What?" Ed frowned. "Where's the other wall?"

"It's like the TARDIS, maybe?" Link offered, adjusting his glasses to fit more comfortably on his nose.

"Not sure how much I like the idea that a supervillain's got similar abilities as the Doctor," Ed grunted. He turned the flashlight to behind them. Even if they couldn't see the opposite wall, they should be able to see the wall behind them. When he was met with the same view all the way around, he hissed in distress. "Not good."

"Well, we've gotten farther than anyone else," Link said quietly. "Not even Superman could get this far."

"Comforting," Ed said, half sarcastically. He checked his phone. "I'm not getting any reception."

Link checked his. "Me neither."

"Which way is forward?"

"I dunno, any way, I suppose," Link shrugged.

"Come on," Ed grabbed Link's shoulder and dragged him in one direction.

They kept a steady pace, but Link wasn't sure if Ed was walking them in circles or not. He didn't think Ed knew, either. He wasn't sure if Ed cared.

"Why is there nothing here?" Ed snapped. "We go to all of this trouble to get in here and there's nothing! Where's the damn exit?"

"I dunno," Link mumbled. "Maybe…" Link reached out his hand to point in a random direction, but his hand started to glow again, giving off as much light as the smartphone's flashlight.

A giant brown stone doorway materialized in front of them, covered in aged, gnarled vines with brown leaves. Carved in the stone was an upside-down sheikah symbol, a crying eye. There was worn red paint in the groves, but it had long since faded. Link and Ed exchanged a quizzical look.

"Entrance or exit?" Ed asked.

Link shrugged.

Since there was nothing else to do, they pushed open the great big stone doors and walked inside. The entrance room was made with the same brown stone and had similar brown vines growing over it. The only door was the one they came through, and it slammed shut behind them. They heard a click, and knew they were trapped.

"There's no other door," Ed snapped.

Link looked around patiently while Ed shoved at the door they came through.

"This is made of the same stuff as the rest of the damn tower!" Ed complained.

Link found a small pedestal with an engraving on it. Unfortunately, it was in a script he didn't recognize. Maybe if he focused really, really hard, the TARDIS would translate the letters for him. But he hadn't felt the presence of the TARDIS since he'd woken up in the hospital six months ago.

"Try something with your hand again," Ed suggested.

"I don't think that's gonna work again," Link mumbled. "I'm pretty tired."

"Don't worry, I got this," Ed looked around the room. "You don't have to do a thing."

"Ed…" Link followed Ed, hugging his arms to his chest. "I dunno…" Link pedestal wanted to say he wanted to go home, that he wanted to sleep, that he wanted Gordon to hug him and tell him everything would be okay and that he'd always protect them, but he couldn't. "We've got to figure out what the pedestal says."

"It's gibberish," Ed brushed it off. "I can fix it."

"You're an ass," Link grumbled. He knelt down next to the pedestal and brushed his hand over the symbols, concentrating hard on trying to remember if he'd seen them before. He felt his hand starting to prickle again. "Ed!" Link pulled back, not wanting to get hurt again. "My… the… the thing wants to do a thing."

"You're hand glowing again?" Ed asked.

Link nodded.

"What's the problem, then? That's good right?"

"It hurts," Link mumbled.

"Life hurts," Ed said, though he didn't want it to be true.

"I know," Link said, curling up and hiding behind his arms and knees. "Sucks."

"Yup," Ed sat down next to him. He didn't want to talk Link into doing something that hurt, but he wasn't sure if they had time to decipher the text via normal means and he couldn't think of anything else. "Want me to… I dunno… hold your hand? Or something."

"That would be nice," Link said.

Ed held out his left hand and Link took it in his right. Ed gave Link's hand a squeeze; I'm here, it meant. Link squeezed back; I know.

Link faced the pedestal and placed his hand on it. He hissed as the hot prickling waved over him, but the symbols changed from unrecognizable and into the Latin alphabet. Then the letters rearranged themselves into readable words. The pain faded. Link let go of Ed's hand.

"That bad, huh?" Ed said lightly, rubbing his hand.

"Sorry," Link mumbled. "I didn't know I was squeezing so hard."

"It's fine," Ed ruffled Link's hair. "Now, what's this say? Looks like a riddle." He knelt down in front of the pedestal and read the inscription out loud. "When one becomes two, the way forward will open. Did the Riddler team up with this guy or something? What the hell does that mean?"

"We gotta find one of something and make it into two things," Link explained. "Probably gotta cut it in half."

"Thanks, I got that part, kid," Ed snapped. "What's the one, though?"

"Something that can be cut in half easily that looks like it's connected to a door mechanism."

"Wait, do we even have anything that can cut something in half?"

"I don't have a sword and I used all of my arrows in the fight with the lion centaur," Link rummaged through his bag to take inventory. "I only have some bombs and a shield spell, a fire spell, a teleport spell, my mirror shield from Termina, and a magical ocarina. Oh, and my bow, but… no arrows."

"Damn," Ed hissed. "If only I could transmute the stuff inside this damn place."

"I'm sorry, I should have asked earlier," Link mumbled.

"Hey, it's not your fault. We'll figure this out. I can always transmute my arm into a blade if we need one."

"That doesn't hurt?"

"It's not like I can feel the prothesis," Ed said.

"Then how do you move it?"

"Magic," Ed smirked.

"Ed, if you're not gonna be serious about magic and I think you're in the wrong place," Link scolded.

"Good point. It's science and it's complicated and we have to find something to cut in half right now."

They busied themselves scouring the room for something to cut in half, Link took one side and Ed took the other. When they found nothing, they met in the middle to trying and think of some other way to figure it out. That's when they found the answer.

"Wait, look," Link pointed to the ceiling, there was a seam running through the middle of the room, leading to a glowing yellow target switch half covered in vines.

"Genius, kid," Ed ruffled Link's hair.

Ed picked up a small pebble from the ground, it wasn't exactly the cleanest room in the world, and chucked it at the switch. With a satisfying ping! the switch turned from yellow to blue and the ground below them began to rumble. The room started to split in half. Ed jumped to one side and Link jumped to the other. A staircase lowered from the ceiling, separating the room into two different rooms.

"So that's what that meant," Ed said. "Shouldn't it have said something about hitting a switch and not splitting the room in half?"

"Well, it's not supposed to be too easy, we are trying to take this place down."

"We didn't even really need the hint, the switch was glowing."

"Least it didn't hurt too much and now we know I can do that."

They went up the stairs. The next room was an obstacle course that looked like it was designed by the devil himself. Spinning blades, mashy spike plates, moving floors, fire, quicksand, bottomless pits, acid pools, arrows with green feathers, indicating poisoned tips, and no small amount of keese and bubbles flying around the room, ready to prevent anyone who could attempt the course from actually completing it.

"Flying flaming monster skulls," Ed frowned. "That… huh… okay."

"Bubbles," Link said. "They're called bubbles."

"Why?"

Link shrugged. "I'd take them out with my arrows, but I don't have left. Don't let them touch you, they make your fingers numb and then it's impossible to do stuff with your hands for a few minutes."

"What's with the one eyed bats?"

"Keese," Link said. "One eyed bats is pretty much the whole story."

"Keys?"

"Keese," Link corrected.

"That's confusing. Why not just call them bats?"

"Because they're not bats, they're monsters."

"Tiny evil bats," Ed suggested.

"They're called keese."

"Alright, fine, jeez. Who named them anyway?"

Link shrugged, "I dunno, Ganondorf maybe?"

"He named those bubbles?"

Link shrugged. "I don't know. That does sound kinda stupid."

"Maybe the monsters came first and he just figured out how to control them but other people had already named them."

"Maybe."

"See a way through?" Ed asked.

Link shrugged. "I don't like the timing of that spike plate."

"Yeah, me neither. If only there was some way of throwing a wrench in this whole death trap and render it harmless."

[Dungeon, Dungeon, Dungeon, Link gets a weighted Quarterstaff, PHANTOM GANON APEARS HOLY SHITE, also Ed loses his prosthetic arm in the obstacle course of mashy spike plate death]

They found themselves standing on the top of the tower. The wind was so strong this high up that Link felt like it was trying to knock them over. Phantom Ganon sat upon his horse, hovering several feet above them. The Phantom made no move to engage, and with no arrows, he was far out of Link's reach.

"Hey, why don't you get off your high horse and come down here and fight us!" Ed shouted, pleased with his pun, but not pleased with the result.

Phantom Ganon did get off his high horse, but he did not come down to fight them on even grounds. Instead, he lifted his hand above his head and charged a familiar attack. Link grabbed the staff and held it ready for the death volley, praying that the staff would work against this attack. It's not like it was actually Ganondorf he was fighting.

"Link, What are you doing?"

"Trust me!"

"I'd rather keep you safe," Ed grumbled, but he did trust Link. And he was pretty useless in a fight without his prothesis.

Phantom Ganon flung the magic at Link and Link swung his staff, hitting the ball of energy with the metal end of the staff and deflecting it right back at Phantom Ganon, who had not anticipated that a staff could deflect his magic. He didn't have a chance to defect it back and was shocked to the ground.

Link leapt for him, hitting him as hard as he could over the head with the staff, using it like a hammer. Phantom Ganon roared in pain and anger, and reached out to grab Link by the neck. The similarity between Phantom Ganon's scream of pain and Ganondorf's frightened him and he barely managed to move out of the way.

"Link, what're you doing?" Ed jumped in to fight by Link's side. He'd be dammed if he let Link do this alone just because of some stupid handicap.

"Sorry," Link mumbled. "I… I didn't expect him to scream…"

"You smashed his face in! What did you expect him to do?"

"I dunno," Link shrugged.

Phantom Ganon summoned his spear and they ended up sparing, one on two. Link was much, much smaller than Phantom Ganon, but not much faster or any more agile, which put him at a serious disadvantage at close range. Thankfully, he had Ed fighting beside him. Ed may have been slower than Link and without a weapon he was having trouble getting past Phantom Ganon's spear, but he tipped the scales into their favor, even if it was marginal.

They held their own, for however long, Link even landed a few blows of his own, but he wasn't sure how much damage a staff would do against the Phantom. He knew getting impaled by the spear would hurt. He also knew Phantom Ganon wouldn't stumble, he wasn't human and he didn't fatigue. Link and Ed, on the other hand, did fatigue. Link wished he hadn't used all his arrows, a magic arrow would easily turn the tide in this battle.

"Magic!" Link exclaimed. "That's it!"

"What about it?" Ed risked a glance in his little brother's direction.

"Ed, take cover!" Link said.

Ed didn't wait for more explanation, he just dove under Phantom Ganon's spear and out of Link's way.

Link summoned a little red crystal and backflipped away, throwing the crystal at the ground as he did. It erupted in flame, engulfing the Phantom in magic fire. While the monster was stunned, Link swung his staff with all his might once more, aiming to smash one of the metal ends into Phantom Ganon's face.

He landed his blow and the Phantom's mask cracked, releasing the dark magic contained inside and breaking the summoning spell Ganondorf had cast to create his Phantom. They had won. And with only a few scratches and bruises to show for it, too.

Before Link could revel in his victory or Ed could ask him where the hell the fire ball came from, an echoing, dark laugh resounded around them. Link would recognize that arrogant tone anywhere. Ed got to his feet and frantically looked around for the source of the sound. Unlike Link, he didn't recognize it, but he knew it filled him with dread.

"Ganondorf," Link whimpered.

"Well done, boy," Ganondorf snarled. "I have to admit, I'm impressed you've managed to survive all this time."

"Show yourself!" Ed shouted, looked around. Ganondorf's voice was disembodied, however, and he was nowhere to be found.

"Ha!" Ganondorf barked. "Like I'd take orders from the likes of you. Look at you, brave and defiant only when you know I am not there to whip you back into place. Both of you. I am quite surprised you two managed to find each other. I suppose I underestimated your mother, boy. Tell me, little hero, how are you not dead. How did that pathetic excuse for a warrior find the fabled 'Hero of Time'? How did you survive?"

"I'm just resourceful like that," Link answered, trying to show confidence, but shying towards Ed nonetheless.

"I'm sure you think you are, but the last time I saw you, you lay dead on the floor at my feet. I am curious as to how it is you, the Hero of Time, and not one of the many successors I have fought in the past."

"It hasn't been long enough for another Hero," Link said. "R… right?" He looked to Ed, who could only shrug. With the Doctor involved, there was really no way of knowing how much time had passed for Ganondorf, while none at all had passed for him. And he hadn't… died? He was sure Ganondorf only thought he was dead. That had to be it.

"Are you so sure of that, boy? Are you not aware of the passage of time?"

"Well, I have been time traveling, so… it is in my title description."

"Yet you have no recollection of your own death," Ganondorf chuckled darkly. "Nor have you any memory of your resurrection. Odd, that. They must be wrong about the apple not falling far from the tree."

"Link, what does he mean by that?" Ed looked at Link.

"I dunno," Link mumbled, not meeting Ed's gaze.

"Link," Ed hissed. He knew Link was lying, he just didn't want to say. "That's something people say about their children."

"I don't know," Link cried, flinching. "I don't… I…" His voice stopped working.

"Link, is he…" Ed had to pause to take a breath. "Are you his son?"

Link began to cry.

Ganondorf laughed. It sent shivers down their backs. "Tell me, boy," he was referring to Ed. He wasn't there, but Ed could feel Ganondorf's oppressive gaze boring into him. "Do you remember me or has your mother wiped your memory?"

"She didn't do jack to my memory!" Ed snapped. "That was you!"

"I'm sure that's what she would tell you, but you would know who you are had she not sent you on that fool's errand of her's."

"I know… I know whatever she did to get me away from you wiped my memory. But you're the one who put false memories in my head!"

"And she's the one who should have left well enough alone. You are mine and mine alone," Ganondorf snarled. "If you give up this charade of heroism right now and come home, I will forgive your trespasses. The offer stands for both of you."

"We don't need you, you bastard!" Ed shouted at him.

"Know that if you refuse, I will not offer again. I will reclaim what is mine by force if need be."

"Oh, I'm so scared," Ed snarled. If there was one thing he was good at, it was defying authority. "What are you gonna do? Shout at us over the radio?"

"You are making an enemy you cannot afford, boy," Ganondorf snarled.

"You started it when you made me," Ed hissed.

"Very well, but know that you have no hope of defeating me."

"Oh yeah!" Ed shouted. "Watch me!"

Link wanted to tell Ed there was nothing he could do against Ganondorf, but his words weren't working. It didn't matter anyway, it wasn't like he would consider joining Ganondorf a second time.

Link felt Ganondorf's scrying fade and he collapsed to his knees.

"Link!" Ed turned to him and pulled him close. "Kid, are you okay?"

Link shook his head.

"Is… is he really…?"

Link nodded.

"Why did you say something?"

Link shrugged.

"Are you sure you're okay? You look sick."

"I said I wasn't okay, dumbass," Link mumbled, finally getting his voice to work again.

"Right, sorry," Ed chuckled, smiling. "I knew that." Ed's smile dropped. "Why didn't you tell me… about Ganondorf?"

Link shrugged. "He's bad."

"Well, no shit, Sherlock."

"I didn't… I didn't want you to know that he hurt me."

"I already knew he hurt you."

"But… but he's my father…" Link mumbled. "And he hurt me."

"That's not your fault. He's an asshole."

"But…"

"No. No 'but's, kid. It's not your fault. You don't pick your biological parents. You pick your family. Usually people aren't dicks, sure, and people end up picking their relatives to be their family, but you don't have too. You just have to love them and they have to love you, that's all. If he doesn't love you, he's not your father, I don't care if he slept with your mom or whatever. He's not."

"What… what about Commissioner Gordon?"

"I… I suppose he's better than Ganondorf," Ed grumbled.

A golden light shone from above them, interrupting their conversation. A woman's voice, someone they didn't recognize, spoke. Even if it was sudden, they both welcomed the chance to change the subject, shove the heftier things to the back burner.

"Children, take this gift," she said.

Link got back to his feet and they watched the object drift down from the sky and slowly hover to a stop, right in front of Link. It was a small, green domino mask. Link looked to Ed for guidance, but Ed didn't know what to do. Ed shrugged.

"Do not be afraid, child," the Woman chuckled warmly. "It will not harm you."

"Well, you'll certainly fit in wearing that," Ed said. He could tell this gift was not for him.

"What about you?" Link asked. "There's only one."

"I'm fine," Ed shrugged. "I don't need any new accessories. Besides, isn't magical masks your thing?"

"Yeah, I guess. Just thought it'd be cool if we matched, s'all."

The Woman laughed again. "I am sorry, child. There is only one. Perhaps next time I will make another for your brother."

Link took the mask. It felt like a transformation mask, like the Fierce Deity's Mask but less powerful. Link considered putting it on but decided against it. Instead, he slipped it into his bottomless pockets. For later, he thought to himself.

"Now, children," the Woman said, "do you see the central alter?"

They look around a bit before they found it. It was made of the same material as the rest of the tower. Resting on the alter was one half of a red circular amulet or pendant.

"Take the fragment of the Pendant of Power and you will destroy the seal on this place, and the Tower along with it. With the Tower of Forest destroyed, Ganondorf's grip on this world will weaken, and with it, the monster's power as well."

"Wait, we're on top of the tower," Ed explained. "What happens to us if the tower is destroyed?"

"A wise question indeed," they could hear the smile in the Woman's voice. "You and your brother will be safely transported to the front of the tower."

"Did… did I…" Link fumbled with his words again. "Do you know if what he said was true? Did I really die?"

"That you must answer for yourself, my child," the Woman said, her voice heavy now. Link had hoped for a lighter response.

"Okay, one more thing," Ed asked. "Who the hell are you and how are you taking to us right now? How did you get that mask thing to us?"

"That's three things, Ed," Link whispered.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ed brushed him off.

The Woman laughed this time. It made Link feel better, but it aggravated Ed. "Who I am is not important, I high jacked Ganondorf's message before he disconnected, and I am very good at sending gifts. Now go, you must destroy the other Tower and save Earth."

Link and Ed took the pendant fragment from the pedestal at the same time. Link could feel his feet lifting off the ground, and by the startled yelp, he could tell Ed felt it as well. Slowly, the Tower crumbled beneath them and the world faded to black.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	36. It's a Bird

**Chapter 36**

 **It's a Bird**

* * *

When the world came back into focus, they were standing at the banks of the river. They had the perfect view of the Tower of Forest, as the Woman called it, crumble into ash. The cracks in the sky didn't disappear, but their steady stretch across the sky was slowing down. It bought them more time. Link slipped the pendant fragment into his pocket.

Before they could even take a breath, they were accosted a reporter who had somehow heard they had made it into the Tower. She had with her a young man snapping pictures of them. Link hid behind Ed as soon as the first bright flash went off in his face.

"Lois Lane, Daily Planet," she cut right to the chase. "Do you have any comments on the Tower's disappearance."

"Um, no… thanks, we're good," Ed said, herding Link towards the car, keeping himself between Link and the nosy reporter.

"Are you sure?" Lois Lane from the Daily Planet followed them. She had her phone in her hand, no doubt recording their conversation. "You're not wearing masks."

"Yeah, no shit," Ed snapped, starting to get annoyed.

"Are you superheroes?"

"Please leave us alone," Ed said.

"Oh, come on," she insisted. "You two appear just as the Tower begins to collapse. You have to know something. You were filmed entering the Tower."

"Oh for…!" Ed groaned. "By whom?"

"Someone who was walking their dog along the river. They posted it to YouTube, it has almost a million views."

"That was half an hour ago! Come on!" Ed frowned.

"Do you have any comments on what happened inside the tower?"

"Leave us alone," Ed shoved past her and dragged Link behind him, making a b-line for his car.

"What happened to your arm?"

"You wanna quote me!" Ed rounded on her. "Quote this!" He let go of Link and flipped her a very aggressive bird with his remaining hand. "I'd flip you off with both, but… well." He shrugged angrily, grabbed Link, and stormed to their car.

He practically shoved Link into the passenger seat and slammed the door. Lois, thankfully, was too upset to follow him. Link was too shaken to speak. First Ganondorf, now he was witness to one of Ed's temper tantrums.

"Who's idea was it to put all the important controls on the right side!" Ed practically screamed, slamming his fist on the horn.

Link flinched. Ed didn't notice.

"Dammit!" Ed slammed his palm into the horn and held it, letting the car scream his frustrations for him.

Link pulled his knees up to his chest, covered his ears with his hand, and scrunched his eyes closed. Maybe Ed would calm himself down.

"Shit," Ed sighed, letting up on the horn. "I'm scaring you aren't I?"

Link didn't answer, he merely quivered.

"I'm sorry."

Link sniffled quietly.

"I shouldn't have undocked the prothesis and I shouldn't have just shoved it back in when it requires special equipment to dock. I should have installed the disabled controls as soon as I got the damn car but I did want to and now we're stuck in Canada. Ah, damn. We're stuck in Canada."

"Better than being stuck in Gotham," Link mumbled.

"Yeah," Ed laughed. "Maybe we'll be adopted by a friendly moose family."

"Or beavers!" Link giggled.

"Maybe even a Mountie," Ed snorted.

Link let out a small gasp, "They have horses."

"GCPD has a mounted division, I think."

"Really‽" Link perked up immediately, his eyes sparked. "Do you think Dad'll let me pet the horses?"

"You called him 'Dad'."

"I did?"

"Yeah. You did."

"Oh," Link looked down at his knees. "Sorry."

"Don't… don't apologize," Ed sighed. "It's high time we started calling him that."

"We? Really?"

"Yeah, sure, why not," Ed shrugged. "I mean, consider the alternative, right?" Ed tried to laugh, but he was suddenly afraid it'd sound like Ganondorf's unsettling cackle. He wondered if that was why Link didn't laugh more often.

"What if he doesn't let us? I mean, we're gonna be in a lot of trouble."

"Yeah, I know."

"We have to call someone to pick us up."

"Yeah, I know."

Ed pulled out his smart phone, paused, put it in his lap, pulled his remaining glove off with his teeth, picked the phone back up, and unlocked the screen. His thumb hovered over the text app, then he noticed the little green phone icon in the corner with an angry red bubble. He had almost fifty missed called and half that many voice messages. He knew who they were from.

"Wanna get some ice cream?" Ed asked Link.

"It's kinda cold out for ice cream."

"Hot chocolate fudge Sunday?" Ed offered. "That's good for cold weather. You think there's Cold Stone in Canada?"

"I wanna go home," Link mumbled.

Ed sighed. He supposed it was worth a shot.

It felt lame to text Gordon, after all the calls he'd deliberately missed, but Ed knew if they talked on the phone, Gordon would yell at him and he didn't feel like dealing with that just yet; not over the phone, anyway. After he'd written the text, he was tempted to ask Link to hit the send button, but that felt pathetic. He was the older one. He was the one who was supposed to hold Link's hand, not the other way around. He felt like he'd waited five minutes to hit send.

 _Hey we're fine but we need a lift home_

Ed didn't have to wait more than five seconds before his phone started to vibrate. Ed immediately hit ignore call. Gordon tried again and again, but every time, Ed hit ignore. It was the most stressful game of cat and mouse Ed had ever played.

After no less than ten attempts, Gordon caved and resigned himself to texting. Ed regretted his win almost immediately. Watching the little bubble that indicated Gordon was typing was agony. It kept disappearing and reappearing, and Ed had a feeling it didn't have to do with bad reception.

 _Where are you?_

 _Canada_

 _I know that. Where in Canada?_

 _Montreal where the tower used to be_

 _Used to?_

 _We destroyed it  
_ _It was pretty epic  
_ _We kicked its ass_

 _Good for you  
_ _You're grounded_

 _We can't be grounded we have to save the world  
_ _It's really important  
_ _We're the only ones who can do this_

 _Not when you live under my roof, you're not._

 _Then maybe we shouldn't_

 _Excuse me?_

 _Maybe we shouldn't live under your roof anymore  
_ _You're just a cranky old man what do you care anyway_

Gordon called him again. Ed hesitated for a moment before hitting ignore again. He considered turning it off entirely. He even considered throwing his phone into the river, but that felt a bit too rash, even for him. When Gordon called him a second time, he let it ring to voice mail. Gordon didn't bother leaving a voice message. Ed wouldn't have listened to it anyway.

 _Edward answer the phone_

Gordon called again. Ed almost let it ring all the way to voice mail again but at the last second he slid the little green circle across the screen and hesitantly brought the phone up to his ear.

" _Edward, I have been worried sick about you!_ " Gordon shouted, his voice was shaky, even over the phone, Ed could tell he was upset. And not in the angry way. At least he wasn't yelling that loud.

"We're kinda stuck here," Ed mumbled.

" _I got that. Why?_ "

"My arm came off and I don't think it would be a good idea to drive without it since I have to reach over too far to change gears and I don't want to let go of the wheel that long."

Gordon sighed. It was crinkly over the phone. " _What happened?_ "

"It was loose. It just kinda fell… off… into a void. I don't want to talk about it."

" _And what's all this about not wanting to live with me anymore? Where did that come from?_ "

"I dunno."

" _You don't know._ "

Ed didn't answer.

" _Edward, this is dangerous. You could be hurt… or killed._ "

"So? What's the big deal? So could you."

" _Yes, but that's different._ "

"Why?"

" _I'm an adult, Edward._ "

"So?"

" _Really?_ " Gordon snapped. " _You're a child. You're really going to make me explain why a child shouldn't be risking their life trying to save the world?_ "

"Sure, go ahead. I'd love to hear it," Ed didn't like being called a child.

" _And what about Link? What happens if he's hurt, if he dies because of this. Edward, you're already down an arm. Don't make this worse._ "

"No one else can do this but us."

" _What makes you so certain that you and only you can do this?_ "

"Because."

" _Because? That's your excuse? Because! That makes everything better. I'm so sorry I ever doubted you,_ " Gordon's voice dripped with sarcasm. " _Get your ass home right now._ "

"How? I can't drive, genius," Ed snapped.

" _Talk Link through using the stick._ "

"Really? That's your advice?"

" _You're both smart, you'll figure it out. I've got some things to say to you both and I'd rather do it face to face._ "

Ed'd gut twisted. "About what?"

Gordon didn't answer.

"About what!" Ed repeated, angrier this time.

" _I'll tell you when you get home, alright?_ " Gordon sounded tired and beaten. He was done dealing with them.

Ed was terrified. "You… you…" Ed couldn't bring himself to ask if Gordon still wanted them. He tried to tell himself he was only scared of Link getting hurt, but he wasn't convinced.

" _We'll talk when you get here._ "

"Yeah," Ed swallowed. His throat was dry. He preferred Gordon yelling. At least then he knew Gordon cared enough to raise his voice. Now, he wasn't so sure.

" _Edward,_ " Gordon hesitated. " _Try not to get into any more trouble._ "

Ed wished he'd hadn't said anything at all.

"What'd he say?" Link asked.

"Wanna learn how to drive?" Ed deflected the question.

* * *

Ed's car wasn't stick shift, so Link's job was pretty easy. All he had to do was change from reverse to drive while Ed backed out of his parking spot and then change it to park when they pulled in to the driveway.

They did drive-thru for lunch and dinner. Ed didn't eat. Link had offered to keep the steering wheel steady on straights while Ed ate, but Ed refused. He didn't even drink anymore coffee. He looked half dead. He'd been driving for almost fifteen hours with only a few hours' break. Link was worried about him.

Ed pulled up the driveway, Link pulled the parking break and moved the stick to 'P', and they sat there, the sun setting in the distance. Ed didn't want to face Gordon.

"How mad is he?" Link asked.

Ed sighed. "I don't know," he said. "Guess we'll find out."

"Oh," Link mumbled, pulling his knees to his chest. "You don't think… he'll send us away… do you? I mean… he knows… we had to, right? He knows that?"

"I don't know, kid," Ed mumbled.

"I did tell him," Link said. "I told him I had too. I told him why. So… so that means he knows?"

"Does it have anything to do with being Ganondorf's kid?" Ed asked.

Link flinched.

"Well, does it? You know I don't blame you for it. Hell, we're in the same damn boat, anyway."

"Ironically, it doesn't," Link said. "Me being his Kryptonite has nothing at all to do with him being my father or me being his son. I'm Chosen, apparently. It kinda sucks that I don't get a say in it."

"I'd like to have a word with the ass holes who picked you, too," Ed snarled. "Sending a kid to do something not even an adult should have to do." Ed was pissed. Whoever they were, they picked the wrong little brother to mess with.

Link was already resigned to his given role.

"Well, at least that explains why you were able to get in and I wasn't," Ed tried to calm himself down before he had another outburst and scared Link.

"We're half-brothers, aren't we?" Link asked. "By blood, I mean."

"Huh, yeah, we are. Small world, isn't it?"

"Small multiple worlds," Link amended.

"Wonder how that worked out," Ed mused. "Does Gordon know about Ganondorf?"

"No," Link shook his head. "I just wanted to forget. I tried to forget. It didn't work, I guess. Dad only knows that I'm the Chosen One or whatever."

"We should go inside."

"Yeah."

Neither of them made a move to go inside.

"We really should go," Link insisted.

"Yup," Ed said.

Still, they were stuck to their seats. Ed took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and opened his door, like ripping off a bandaid. He got out and Link followed suit. Ed fumbled with the keys, half on purpose to delay the inevitable and half because his keys were in his right pocket, which was hard to reach with his left hand. Link knew better than to offer Ed help.

When they walked inside, Alma ran to greet them, wagging her tail and wiggling her whole body with joy. She was so happy to see them, she peed on Ed's shoe.

"Damn dog!" Ed jumped out of the way.

"Alma, no," Link scolded. "Bad dog. Don't pee on people, it's rude." But he couldn't stay mad at her forever, and it wasn't like puppies had full control over their bladders.

"I'll get the damn towels," Ed grumbled, kicking his shoes off and stalking into the kitchen. "Dumb, stupid animal," he grumbled. "I hate dogs." As he was pulling the paper towels from the roll, he hesitated. Edward Elric didn't like dogs. He wasn't Edward Elric. He reflected on the situation, pushed aside any of his past emotions, and focused on the present, how he felt about dogs now.

He supposed they weren't half bad.

"Whatever," he grumbled, grabbing the towels and going back to the entrance to clean up the wet puppy dribble. "My shoe's gonna smell like dog piss now," he complained.

"I smelled like cow manure for two whole months once!" Link bragged.

"You say that like its a good thing."

"Hey, where… where is he?" Link asked, looking around.

"I dunno, probably sleeping," Ed shrugged.

The house didn't feel right.

"There's something wrong," Link whispered. "Where is he?"

"I'll go check his room," Ed said. "Why don't you get ready for bed, or something. It's late."

"It's only seven," Link said.

"Since when do you object to getting in your pjs?" Ed teased.

"I don't like this, Ed," Link whined. "I'm scared."

"Of what? It's just the house."

"Somethings wrong," Link insisted.

"Fine, lets go check his room then," Ed said.

Link followed Ed to Gordon's door. Ed knocked on it, pretty loud. No response.

"Hey, old man!" Ed shouted. "We're home!"

Gordon still did not answer. Link's heart skipped a beat.

"This is bad," Link whimpered.

"So he's a heavy sleeper, big deal," Ed shrugged. He shoved the door open. "Look, he's probably a…" Ed froze. "Shit!"

Gordon was on the floor, leaning against his bed, pale as a ghost. He wasn't moving, his eyes were closed, and they couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. Ed ran to him, immediately checking for a pulse. He found a bottle of pills in Gordon's hand, unopened. They were heart medications.

"Link, call Bullock," Ed said. "Tell him we need an ambulance."

"Ed, what's wrong," Link cried.

"Do it now!" Ed snapped.

Link snapped into action. He didn't remember where he put his clunky, old flip phone, so he rushed to the home line. Gordon kept a sticky note on it with his, Barbara's, and Bullock's numbers on them, in case Link or Ed ever needed him. Link fumbled with the numbers, but he managed to call Bullock.

"Harvey speaking," Bullock answered.

"Edsaidweneedanambulance," Link cried, taking so fast he had trouble understand himself.

"Link? What's wrong, talk slower."

"Ed said… Ed said to tell you we need an ambulance," Link said, forcing himself to breath.

"What's wrong? Is it Jim? Did something happen?"

"We… we came home and he's on the floor and he's not moving and Ed said to call you and we need an ambulance but I don't know what happened."

"Jesus," Bullock cursed. "Is there blood, does it look an attack?"

Link shook his head, then remembered he was on the phone and mumbled a quick, "Nuh-uh."

"Alright, alright, I'm coming over with an ambulance. You just hang in there, Link. You hear me? I'll be right there." Bullock hung up the phone.

Link wandered back into Gordon's room, where Ed was pacing back and forth, periodically checking to make sure Gordon was still breathing and still had a pulse.

"Ed, what do we do?" Link cried. "What's wrong? What's happening?"

"He's had a heart attack," Ed said. "I think. I… he's got heart pills…" he gestured to the bottle, which had fallen from Gordon's hands and onto the floor.

"What do we do?"

"I don't know!" Ed snapped. "You called Bullock?"

Link nodded.

"That's all we can do, I guess. I don't… I don't know how to do anything without alchemy and… and even if I did have that, the only thing that could help him would kill me and that would get us nowhere."

"Ed, he can't die, can he?" Link whimpered. "He can't."

"He's not gonna die," Ed snapped. "He'll be fine, we did everything, alright?"

"Is this our fault?" Link asked.

"No," Ed shook his head. "I… I mean… stress can cause heart attacks but… but it'd have to be a lot and over a long time and… I… I mean… his job is super stressful so that could be it. The prescription for the pills is pretty old, longer than he's had us for, anyway. So this was a preexisting thing."

"But we made it worse," Link whispered.

Ed didn't answer.

Link went back into the living room and curled up on the couch. He covered his face with one of the pillows and cried. He even tried screaming into it to see if that helped, but all it did was hurt his throat. He didn't know how Ed could turn these feelings into anything other than fear, despair, or guilt.

He didn't want his dad to die.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	37. I Mustache You a Question

**Chapter 37**

 **I Mustache You a Question**

* * *

Link and Ed could only watch as the paramedics loaded Gordon into the ambulance and drove off. Link wondered if this was how Ed felt when he was carried off to the hospital on a stretcher, with red and blue lights for wings. Bullock was on the phone, shouting at someone. Bullock decided to stay behind with Ed and Link. Barbara had already been contacted.

Ed waited for Bullock to turn the other way before he grabbed Link and dragged him back to his car, intent on going to the hospital.

"Hold it!" Bullock ran after them, "Look I have to call you back," he clumsily picketed his phone. "Now where do you think you're going?"

"To the hospital," Ed snapped.

"What the hell happened to your arm?"

"It fell off, it's no big deal, don't worry about it, Link's gonna help me drive. He's done it before."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Bullock grabbed Ed by the back of his shirt. "What do you mean 'it fell off'! How does that even happen?"

"It wasn't docked properly," Ed explained.

"Docked?"

"It was a prosthetic."

"Oh," Bullock frowned, rubbing his beard in shock. "Huh. And what about the new hairdo?"

"It was getting long. Now, if you don't mind," Ed practically shoved Bullock off him and tried to get into the drivers seat.

"No! No, you don't," Bullock shoved the door closed. "You're staying right here, buster."

"You wanna try and make me?" Ed snarled.

"What are you off in a rush, anyway? Thought you didn't like him?"

"What do you know!" Ed shouted. "What, just 'cause I'm an ass doesn't mean I don't like people!"

"Hey, jeez, don't bite my head off," Bullock snapped.

Link tugged on Bullock's sleeve.

"Hey, what's up, kiddo," Bullock patted him on the head. Ed calmed down, but only a little.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Link asked.

"Yeah, Jim's gonna be fine," Bullock sounded confident. "Don't you worry. He's the toughest guy I know. Now, come on, back inside."

"What for?" Ed bristled. "We're going to the hospital."

"No, you're going inside," Bullock hissed. "Where you're going to eat dinner and go to bed. You can go to the hospital tomorrow during visiting hours."

"Link, get in the car," Ed growled.

When Link moved, Bullock grabbed Link by the upper arm.

"Link," Bullock hissed. The meaning was clear.

"Let him go," Ed snarled.

"Get inside," Bullock pointed to the house.

"He could be dying!" Ed screamed.

"The world is ending," Bullock snarled. "The last thing he would want is you two in the middle of it all. He would want you safe, in the house, out of danger, out of trouble."

"You don't…"

"And before you question me on how I know that, I've known Jim for thirty years. I'm his partner, for pete's sake."

"You may know him," Ed snarled, glaring at Bullock with all the fury he had. "But you sure as hell don't know us. I'm not backing down and there's nothing you can do about it."

Bullock glared back, but it would take at least thirty of him to match Ed's burning conviction. He clenched his jaw and caved, "Alright, fine."

Ed immediately went for the door handle.

"Wait! I'm driving," Bullock stopped him. "Get in the car," he nodded his head towards his old beat-up Ford.

Ed frowned angrily, but he wouldn't argue. He wasn't used to driving with one hand anyway. He and Link got into the back of the car and Bullock got into the driver's seat.

"Hey, doesn't he need a car seat or something?" Bullock asked, glancing at them through the rearview mirror.

"He's eleven," Ed grunted.

"Yeah, but is he over four nine? How tall are you, kiddo?"

Link shrugged and mumbled a quick, "I dunno." He looked down at his knees and fidget.

"He doesn't need a car seat," Ed insisted.

"How tall is he?"

"Four four," Link mumbled.

"There, see? He needs a booster seat, at least," Bullock snapped.

"He doesn't have one."

"What? Jim never got a car seat?"

"He's eleven, he doesn't need one."

"Still think he needs a booster seat," Bullock grumbled, but he knew he'd lost yet another argument. "How the hell does he put up with these brats?" Bullock grumbled. He was trying to say it under his breath so they wouldn't hear him, but he wasn't very good at it.

He pulled away from the house and headed for Gotham General.

* * *

Gotham General was packed. A lot of people there were fleeing the monsters and congregated in the front lobby in groups, families mostly, but there were groups of homeless people and the occasional herd of stray teenagers. There were volunteers handing out shock blankets and warm soup to the ones handling it the hardest.

There were so many patients that the ones who could stand weren't even given beds, they were simply bandaged and left to wander. The ones who couldn't, were in beds that overcrowded rooms and overflowed into the hallways. Almost the entire hospital staff was on duty and had been since the beginning, over eighty hours ago. The nurses and doctors looked like zombies.

Bullock had been here so many times, that despite the confusion, he knew exactly who to talk to to find out where in the hospital Gordon was being taken. The receptionist they talked to mistook Ed for the patient and tiredly directed them to the Rehab Center for the Prostheses Department. When Bullock explained the situation and flashed his badge, she apologized and told them how to get to the Cardio Surgery Center. Bullock had to prove he was one of Gordon's emergency contacts and that Ed and Link were his family, first.

Ed led the way, if only so that he wouldn't have to follow, and Bullock only followed behind him because he could barely keep up with Ed's rushed pace. Link, with such short legs, had to jog just to keep up with them. He tried not to pay attention to where they were or all the pain and suffering around them. He dedicated all of his focus to keeping up with Ed.

When they got there, they were directed to a small waiting room. There was a small toy in the corner. It was one of those toys with long, twisting, brightly painted wire tracks with six to ten wooden beads each. Link sat in the chair next to it and occupied himself by leaning over the edge and moving the beads along the tracks. Ed paced the room, scratching at his head, unused to how cold his scalp was without hair.

About an hour in, Bullock got a call and had to go back to the precinct. With the Commissioner out of commission, Bullock had to take over as acting commissioner. Link didn't want him to go, but his mouth stopped working when he tried to ask him to stay and he ended up not saying anything at all. He could barely pull himself away from the toy.

Cardio Surgery sounded serious and scary. No one stopped to explain to Link what was going on yet. All anyone had said was that Gordon would be fine and not to worry. Despite the reassurances, He felt like it was his fault.

* * *

Barbara never showed up. Ed called her, but it rang to voicemail. He then received a text saying that she was really busy with work. It made Ed wonder what exactly she did that was in such demand that she couldn't even answer her phone. Especially at a time like this.

Gordon was in surgery for four hours, significantly less than Link, but his ailment was more common and much less severe, if no less life threatening. The nurse praised them for acting so cool in a crisis, but Ed knew that if Gordon wasn't a cop, he'd probably be dead. The only reason they got an ambulance in a time like this was because they could skip over all the emergency lines, which were busy, and go straight to the Chief of Police himself. 911 was so backed up it had a two hour hold period before you even got to a person.

And if Link had a dime for every time someone commended him for his calmness when in reality he was so far down the terror scale he'd looped back to calm, he'd be able to put himself and ten other people through college.

After the surgery was over, Ed and Link were directed to a room where Gordon was recovering from the surgery. There was only one other patient in the room and there was no overflow, that was mostly in the ER.

Gordon wasn't awake yet and he didn't look much better than before, but he was alive. Ed, who had gotten used to being a visitor in a hospital, grabbed a chair and sat down next to the bed, propping his feet up on the bedside table. Link didn't know what to do. After a few minutes of being frozen where he stood, listening to the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor, he curled up on the bench against the wall, hugging an extra pillow to his chest and burying his face into it.

Link was on the verge of tears when Gordon finally stirred, two hours later.

"Edward? Link?" Gordon mumbled, blinking his eyes and wetting his dry mouth.

Ed handed him his glasses, which were on the bedside table next to his feet, a habit he picked up when waking Link up in the morning for school.

Link began to cry, quietly and into the pillow, but he was hiccuping, also repressed, more out of habit than anything else.

"Boys," Gordon let out a sigh of relief. "What happened?"

"You had a heart attack," Ed said, his voice quite, afraid that if he spoke in his usual abrasive manner, it would stress Gordon into a second heart attack.

"I gathered that," Gordon said. "I meant with you two, running off to Canada in the dead of night."

"Well, you certainly don't beat around the bush," Ed sighed. "You almost died, old man."

"And how many times have you almost died in the last twenty four hours?" Gordon snapped.

Ed balked.

"Answer me, Edward."

"I… I don't know," Ed swallowed nervously. "I lost track."

"Get out," Gordon snarled, looking up at the ceiling.

"W… what?" Ed flinched.

"You heard me," Gordon hissed. "I'm tired of repeating myself."

"But…"

"Now, Edward."

Ed clenched his jaw, seriously considering throwing a fit, but at this point, it'd do more harm than good. On his way out, he grabbed Link, who was still hiccuping, only harder now. It took all of Ed's strength not to slam the door on the way out. He couldn't bring himself to leave the hallway and instead collapsed against the wall opposite of the door. Link sat down next to him.

"He doesn't… doesn't want us," Link sobbed. "Ed, he doesn't want us."

All Ed could do was cry.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	38. But I Will Shave it for Later

**Chapter 38**

 **But I Will Shave it for Later**

* * *

It broke Gordon's heart to send them out of the room like that but if they stayed any longer, he would have started yelling, and if he started yelling, his heart rate would go up, and if his heart rate went up, he might very well die, then and there, and he was no good to them in body bag. He needed time to carefully and calmly think about how to handle everything that was going on.

Things in Gotham had a way of happening all at once. Of course his long overdue heart attack would happen now, of all times. He never should have started smoking. If he could go back and change anything, it would be that. At least, at this moment. There were many decisions he wished he could change. Hindsight was twenty/twenty, after all. But out of all of his poor decisions, this was the one that had been in his control and he let it get the best of him anyway.

By morning, which wasn't much brighter than night, the doctors cleared him and Bullock drove them home. Gordon would have preferred to drive himself or take the train, but his car was at home and the train was covered in carnivorous plants. Both Ed and Link were paler than ghosts and they couldn't meet his eyes. Bullock tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but no one laughed.

Gordon would have preferred to go straight to work, but his doctor and Bullock were both enforcing a mandated vacation for his heart to recover. He didn't want to leave the boys home alone, but he didn't want to face them. They didn't want to face him either, so the three of them ended up going to their rooms and staying there. Gordon paced his room, trying to find a peaceful solution to their problems, while the boys sat on their beds to discuss the future.

"What do we do?" Link asked, leaning against the headboard.

"I don't know," Ed sighed, sitting on the edge of his bed, his elbow on his knee and his head hanging low, resting on his one hand.

"We… we can't stop fighting Ganondorf," Link mumbled.

"No, of course not," Ed agreed.

"But if we don't, then the Commissioner will be mad at us."

"I know," Ed grumbled.

"But he knows we don't have a choice, right? If… if I had a choice, I would stay here forever and ever and I'd never do anything that would make him mad or not want me or anything like that."

"I know," Ed sighed. "Me too. Minus the 'not making him mad' part. I'll stop making him mad when I'm dead," he joked. It didn't really help.

"I thought he knew that I didn't have a choice. I thought… I thought I explained it okay. At least, I think I did. Maybe… maybe I forgot?"

"It's not your fault, kid," Ed said. "Like you said, we don't have a lot of options. We can't just sit around and let the world end."

"Of course not! What would be the point of staying home, if the longer that we stay home the more dangerous the world gets. We've got to… save everyone before we can even think about staying home. Right? Because… because people will get hurt. It's wrong."

"Exactly! If he can't see that then… this isn't going to work. He can't just ground us and let the world end. If… if saving the world means he doesn't want us around anymore then… that's his decision. We've made ours and we're sticking to it."

Link curled up tighter in his bed. "Maybe we can stay for one more day?" Link asked. "Do you think he'll let us stay for one more day?"

"What for?"

"I'm not ready to give up everything. I… I mean… I will. I just… I'm not ready to leave behind the only house I've ever had. The only home I've ever had."

"As long as we've got us, we're always home," Ed said, but it hurt. This was the only home he had that he didn't have to share with Elric.

"But I wanted a dad," Link cried, his voice breaking. "That's all I've ever wanted. Why, Ed? Why can't I have a dad? Why does something always happen to take away the people I care about?"

"Nothing's gonna take me away," Ed said, with conviction. "I won't let it. I'll fight tooth and nail to protect you, kid."

"You've already lost an arm doing that," Link said. "And your powers."

"Big whoop, they don't work where we're going anyway, right?"

"And you said you couldn't make any promises, remember?"

"I know I said I couldn't promise that I'd always be here, but I sure as hell can promise I won't stop fighting to be here."

"But what if… what if we leave forever and he worries anyways and he has another… another… and then it would be all my fault and… and I… what if he died?" Link cried. "What if he died? It'd be all my fault and… that would mean… if… if it's my fault then… I… I might as well have…"

"Link…" Ed's breath caught in his throat. "This isn't your fault. The prescription on the bottle was five years old."

"That doesn't mean that it's not my fault. We should've asked for permission, at least!"

"Boys!" Gordon suddenly shouted for them from the living room, catching them both off guard. Link squeaked. "Get in here, you need to see this."

They shared a look, but neither could think of what Gordon possibly meant. Ed didn't want to go out there, but if Gordon would call for them like this when he was still mad at them, it must be important.

Link shied behind Ed when they went into the living room. Gordon was standing next to the couch, nervously twitching, watching the TV. There was a live broadcast from the United Nations in New York. The TV was currently on the Daily Planet's channel, but Link suspected it was live on every channel.

"A giant impenetrable crystal gem has appeared over the United Nation's Headquarters," a field reporter said into a mic. She was standing across the street from the UN. "A man, calling himself Ganondorf, is holding the leaders of the world hostage."

Link could barely move. Being on TV made it feel real. He grabbed Ed's hand to keep himself grounded.

"He is demanding the surrender of Earth to his control or he'll take the planet by force. At this point I can say it's very likely he's the one behind the Towers and the monsters. The Justice League is already at the scene, along with the FBI and Special Forces."

The camera swerved to show Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Green Lantern, John Stewart, talking to a group of men dressed in black suits wearing sunglasses, another man in a general's uniform, and an angry looking woman in a blue suit.

"They have managed to open communication with the hostage taker and…"

A person ran up to the reporter and whispered something into her ear.

"I am just now receiving information that the hostage taker is behind the darkened sky and the Towers. He's made an additional demand. Earth does not have to surrender, but if the two unidentified persons who destroyed the Tower in Montreal surrender to him, he will leave Earth in peace."

"No way," Ed hissed.

"On that we agree," Gordon snarled.

Link's ears starting ringing. He felt like he was back there, with Ganondorf looming over him. The terrible, agonizing strikes of Ganondorf's twisted magic was brought to the forefront, like it was happening all over again. He couldn't see, he couldn't breath, he couldn't hear. He couldn't even move. There was only the overwhelming pain and fear.

The image on the TV changed from the field camera to the studio camera and the TV anchors went on to show the YouTube video of Ed and Link going into the tower.

"Yesterday morning," the first anchor explained over the video. "Two unidentified persons made contact with the large Tower in Montreal, Canada. About an hour later, the Tower crumbled into the river and disappeared."

"Call me crazy, Bill, but they look like children to me," the other anchor said as the video ended and the screen went back to them, with the thumbnail of the video in the upper left corner.

"You know, I don't think you're wrong, Jan. They definitely look like children. Two children who did what even Superman couldn't."

"Why do you think that they were able to…"

Gordon turned the TV off. He'd seen enough and he certainly didn't want to see much more. He just thought they should know. But Link hadn't seen any of it.

"Edward, this is exactly why I didn't want you two involved with this," Gordon sighed.

"We were already involved!" Ed snapped. "What about that do you not get‽"

"You…!" Gordon spun on Ed, his rebuttal practiced and ready, but that was when he saw Link. "Link?" He knelt down immediately, putting both hands on Link's shoulders and squeezing. "Link look at me."

Ed flinched back, startled by the look of utter horror on Link's face. Link's breath was quick and rapid, his eyes were dilated, and his hands were clenched into fists so tight his fingers were white.

"Link, breath," Gordon said, trying to stay calm. He tried to gently unclench Link's fists, but Link wouldn't budge. Tears were starting to fall down his face.

"What's wrong?" Ed whimpered.

"He's having a flashback," Gordon said.

"What? Like… PTSD?" Ed asked. "But… he's eleven. He's too young to… he shouldn't…" Ed couldn't finish the thought. He didn't want to.

"I know," Gordon's voice shook. "Link, please, look at me. You're safe. You're safe, son. Please."

Link took a long, shaking breath, interrupted by hiccups and sobbing. He wrapped his arms around his chest and some part of him was pulled back to reality. He could feel Gordon's hands on his shoulders, and he knew those hands would never hurt him. Not in the ways Ganondorf hurt him. He leaned into the protective embrace and slowly, hesitantly, wrapped his arms around Gordon's neck, burying his face into Gordon's shoulder.

"It's okay," Gordon cooed, holding Link close. "You're okay."

"Don't let him hurt me," Link whimpered. "Please, don't let him hurt me. Don't let him take me away, Dad, please."

Gordon's voice caught in his throat. Link called him 'Dad'. Link never called him that. In fact, Link never called him anything. Not to his face.

"Did…" he held Link at arm's length and looked him in the eyes. "Did you just call me 'Dad'?"

Link paled. "I… I'm… I'm sorry! I… I didn't meant too! I'm sorry."

"Link…"

"Please don't be mad at me I was scared I didn't mean it I won't do it again I'm so sorry…"

"Link! I'm not mad," Gordon laughed, hugging Link once more. "Son, I'm not mad. You're my kid, what else should you call me?"

"You're not mad?" Link hiccuped. "You still want us?"

"Of course I still want you. I'll always want you."

"But… at the hospital… you were so angry… we thought…"

"I didn't want to start yelling," Gordon explained. "You didn't think… Jesus… boys, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you like that. I was trying to keep my blood pressure down. I was worried you were hurt. Edward's down an arm, for Christ's sake. I didn't want to think of all the other ways you could have been hurt."

"I'm sorry," Link sniffled. "It was my idea. Please don't be mad at Ed."

"I'm not… I'm not mad," Gordon sighed. "I'm just very disappointed in you for going out there after I told you not to."

"I didn't want to go," Link explained. "It's not like I have a choice. The last thing I ever wanted was for you to almost die because of me…"

"Link, that heart attack was because I smoked almost a pack a day since I was seventeen. I only managed to quit five years ago and by that time the damage had been done. It had nothing to do with you. I'm just grateful I only have a heart condition and not cancer."

"But I made you worry when we ran away…"

"Of course I was worried, Link. You're my sons, I want you to be safe."

"But…"

"And if I didn't have you around to worry about I would have managed to work myself into that heart attack. Either way, it was my own decisions that led to that. Not yours, alright?"

"Okay," Link sniffled.

"You're a good kid, Link."

"How long do you have left?" Ed hated to burst bubbles, especially now, but he had to know.

"Ten to twenty years," Gordon sighed. He knew he couldn't avoid that now and they'd know if he lied. "Maybe less. It's hard to give it a number, but it's… never as much as you hope for."

Link hugged him a little tighter. "It's not fair," he mumbled into Gordon's coat. "It's not fair."

"I know, son," Gordon sighed.

"Why the hell'd you adopt us if you knew you were just gonna up and die on us in a couple years‽" Ed snapped.

"Ten to twenty years," Gordon clarified. "That's hardly a couple years."

"You could be dead right now if we didn't find you!" Ed shouted. "How can you just go around and tell us not to risk our lives trying to save everyone when you could just drop dead at any second? How is that fair? How?"

"Edward…"

"No! You can't just…" Ed started to stammer. His words caught in his throat. "You can't just up and die on us, old man! You can't…" he felt hot tears fall down his face. "Promise."

"Edward," Gordon sighed.

"No! Promise us! Right now, that you're not gonna just up and die on us! You said you still wanted us but that's bunk if you're not around for it!"

Link leaned into Gordon a little harder and sniffled.

"I'm not kicking it just yet," Gordon said. "That much is certain. We're just going to have to get used to the idea that no one lives forever and, as much as I hate to admit it, my time's going to be sooner rather than later."

"But… you can't just… you can't just come into our lives and then just leave like that! It's not… it's not fair. We… we just decided to call you Dad."

"This was a group decision?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Ed crossed his arms and looked away. "I mean… consider the alternative…" he motioned to the TV.

Link cringed.

"And… um… about that," his crossed arms turned into a hugged chest. "We should… um… do something about that… whole… mess… thing."

"No," Link cried. "I don't want to go with him."

"No one's going anywhere," Gordon said, holding him a little tighter.

"Please, don't let him take me," Link whimpered.

"I won't let him take either of you," he cooed. "Edward, why don't you go get Link a glass of water?"

"Milk," Link corrected. "Can I have a glass of milk?"

"Fine," Ed huffed. "Weirdo. What'cha like milk for, anyway?"

"It tastes nice," Link whispered.

"Whatever," Ed shrugged, heading into the kitchen.

"What say we sit on the couch, hm?" Gordon asked Link.

"Okay," Link said.

They sat on the couch. Link leaned into Gordon like he usually did with Ed. He loved Ed more than anything, and he knew Ed loved him too, but Gordon made him feel safer. He didn't explode as much and he didn't make Link feel bad as often.

Ed knew Link had made the complete transition. Link no longer saw him as his main protector. He was no longer the only one Link had. He knew that this went for both of them, at least Gordon and Link saw it that way. But no matter how hard he tried, it was so, so hard to accept that Gordon was just as much a part of their screwed up family as they were. Gordon was just as much Ed's dad as he was Link's. But all Ed could see was Link seeking comfort from someone that wasn't him, and it scared him.

Ed grabbed a glass from the cabinet and went to grab the milk from the fridge. The milk gallon was full, and it wasn't like Ed had much experience handling them before. And with his missing arm, it was incredibly difficult to keep the gallon steady over the cup.

"Come on, come on," Ed hissed under his breath. "Just pour into the damn cup you stupid cow juice."

His hand was shaking. He tried as hard as he could to steady it. But he couldn't. The cold, wet plastic handle slipped right out of his sweaty hand, knocking the glass off the counter and both it and the milk gallon exploded against the linoleum floor, sending broken shards of glass and milk everywhere.

"Dammit!"

"Edward, you okay in there?"

"Dammit," he slumped against the fridge. He felt useless. He couldn't even get his little brother a cup of milk without screwing up everything. No wonder Link liked Gordon more than him. Ed tried not to cry, but it proved too difficult.

"Edward?" Gordon came into the kitchen. Link stayed behind on the couch.

"Go away," Ed sniffled.

"Are you really crying over spilt milk?" Gordon tried to cheer him up. He immediately busied himself with cleaning the mess up.

"Shut up," Ed whipped the tears from his face. "I am not."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm fucking useless," Ed hissed. "Especially without my damn arm."

"You're not useless," Gordon said.

"I can't even pour a stupid cup of milk! Of course I'm useless!"

"People with two hands spill things all the time," Gordon said. "It doesn't make you less worthy."

"I can't fight, I can't use my alchemy, if that's even what I'm doing…" Ed buried his face in his hand. "I can't even protect my own little brother. I have to protect him. He's all I have."

"You have me, Edward," Gordon sighed. It would stick eventually.

"We have to do something… about the UN," Ed said. "If we don't even show, he'll probably start killing hostages. I… I can't be responsible for someone dying."

"The only way you could be responsible for someone's death is if you're the one who pulled the trigger," Gordon snapped. "There are professional hostage negotiators handling the situation. You have no responsibility to what's going on."

"You're only saying that because you don't want us to put ourselves in danger again. You know they never would have leaked his demands to the media if they weren't trying to contact us."

"Edward…"

"We have to go. It's the only way to defuse the situation."

"I'm not letting Link anywhere near that man," Gordon hissed. "The mere mention of that bastard triggered a panic attack. I can only imagine what he did to Link to warrant that kind of response."

"I know," Ed whispered. "I'm kinda glad I don't remember what he did to me. He must've… taken my arm and leg… it's not like a clone inherits scars or amputations. But if we don't do something… innocent people will die. Isn't that just as bad as pulling the trigger?"

"No," Gordon insisted. "It's not."

"Maybe not to you!" Ed shouted. "But it sure as hell is to me! We have to do something. We at least have to show up. I don't mean that we're gonna surrender… it'll take a hell of a lot more than that to make me even think of letting him have Link… but we have to do something."

Gordon sighed. "You're not budging, are you?"

"No," Ed answered.

"Well, then I suppose there's no point in putting my foot down. You'd just go behind my back, anyway. Looks like we're driving to New York."

"Link should stay here," Ed said.

"No!" Link interrupted.

They both looked up to find Link standing in the doorway. He got up from the couch when he heard them talking. He heard the whole thing.

"Link…" Ed started to protest.

"No! I won't let you face him blind. I'm the only one who knows what he's capable of. I'm the only one who's faced him and lived. Even if I didn't come out unharmed. At least I'm still alive. If you try to fight him, he'll kill you, or worse."

"Worse than death?" Ed laughed hesitantly.

Link paled. "He's pretty good at torture and brainwashing people. He even managed to brainwash someone who had the strongest spirit than anyone else. If we face him now, all that will happen is we'll be captured and then no one will stand in his way. That's why he wants us to surrender."

"We're not gonna surrender, kid," Ed insisted.

"I know but… we'd lose if we fought him and then he'd take us by force. No matter what happens, he takes us."

"So we don't fight him. We talk him down."

"I tried that! Two years of him hurting me and making me feel like less than dirt and it got nowhere!" Link clenched his fists and hugged his chest, trying not to cry again. "He can't be reasoned with."

"Then we trick him."

"How? He's a master tactician and he's super good at manipulating people."

"I… I have a plan," Ed said. "It's not much, but I'm certain it can fool him."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you. You just have to trust me."

"How do I know it will work if you won't tell me what it is? I'm the one who knows him best."

"The less people who know, the better it'll work, trust me."

Link looked into Ed's eyes. Ed knew his plan would work. "I believe you believe it's the best thing to do," Link said. "Usually, that'd be enough for me, but not with… not with him involved."

"Link, you have to trust me on this, please," Ed stood up.

Link looked to Gordon for answers. It hurt Ed to see Link looking to someone else for guidance. He was supposed to be there for Link, but he wasn't. He had to do something. If only Link would trust him enough, first.

"Edward, if this plan of yours puts either you or Link in danger…"

"Of course it's dangerous!" Ed snapped. "The hell kinda plan in a situation like this wouldn't be? This is just the best I can come up with right now and no one else seems to be making any suggestions. Sure, if everything goes according to the plan, no one'll get hurt."

"Link, do you have any other ideas?"

Link frowned and shook his head.

"Then, under the circumstances, it seems Edward's plan is the best option we have."

"But we don't even know the plan!" Link protested. "He might not even have a plan at all!"

"I have a plan," Ed snapped. "And it'll work."

Gordon sighed, "The least we can do is show up, like Edward said. I'm sure that the experts already there have a plan of their own."

"But… but what if their plan is to let him take us?" Link whimpered.

"We don't negotiate with terrorists and we sure as hell don't give in to their demands," Gordon explained. "I doubt they're even considering that."

"At the very least, we should offer our help," Ed said.

"I suppose you should," Gordon sighed. He didn't want them anywhere near the danger, but he doubted that would change anything now.

"Fine," Link huffed. "But only… only 'cause you said they won't let him take me."

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


	39. Arrested Development

**Chapter 39**

 **Arrested Development**

* * *

Gordon got as close as he could to the UN Headquarters and parked the car. Ed and Link were sitting in the back. Link was leaning on Ed for comfort and trying not to panic, even though he knew could be Ganondorf just a few blocks away, though it was more likely that Ganondorf made someone else do his dirty work. Link wondered if Ganondorf knew he was there. He didn't want to think about it.

They got out of the car.

"Edward, you realize if you two go up there, plan or no plan, without any kind of masks on, you'll forfeit any hope of a secret identity."

"So? What's the big deal, anyway?" Ed shrugged. "He knows who we are already. Not much use in trying to avoid that."

"And what if someone decides they don't like you," Gordon said.

"What, like that's rare?" Ed snapped. "People decide not to like me all the damn time, it wouldn't be anything new."

"I mean an anti-meta extremist. They think public identities are easier targets. They don't have to have a personal grudge, they just don't like powered heroes, which I'm sure they'd think you are."

"I'm not at the moment," Ed hissed.

"But you are in general," Gordon insisted. "That would put everyone else at risk; Barbara, Link, your friends from school, your coworkers."

"Not you?"

"I openly work with Batman, I already have a target on my back. Honestly, the only thing protecting me is my job. Criminals don't mess with cops. That'll give you some protection from the normal crowd, but terrorists don't care if your dad's a cop. The best defense against them is if they don't know who you are."

"Oh!" Link realized, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the mask the Woman gave him at the top of the tower. "Would this work? It doesn't look like it'd cover much, though," Link frowned.

"It works for Robin," Ed said. "You're not even meta anyway, so all that bull doesn't even apply to you."

"I… I have powers," Link frowned. "They're just not as flashy as yours."

"Okay, sure, like what?" Ed ruffled Link's hair.

"I… I'd need a bow and arrows, but I'm still out of arrows."

"Well, don't you two go and get any ideas of heroism," Gordon said. "I want you to resolve this… whatever this is," he motioned towards the UN. "And then I want you two to stay away from this business. Good or bad, even if it's the right thing to do, it's still dangerous. You could be killed."

"I know," Link mumbled, look down at his feet. He couldn't count how many times he'd nearly died fighting Ganondorf the first time. Even with Ed at his back, it wasn't much easier. He wished he were older, braver, stronger, wiser; the list went on; but he wasn't. He was young, scared, weak, naïve; and there wasn't much he could do about it.

"Hey, kid," Ed ruffled Link's hair. "Why don't you try on the mask?"

"Okay," Link mumbled. He looked down at the mask and a took a deep breath. He put it on. In a flash of light, Link's regular clothes were replaced with a form fitting green spandex superhero suit with white sleeves and brown gloves. "Oh!" Link gasped quietly. It was a transformation mask.

Ed laughed, "You look like a green Robin." He didn't mean that in a good way.

Link's face turned red. "I think it looks cool," Link mumbled.

"What happened to your glasses?" Ed asked.

"They're under the mask," Link said. It was like he was simultaneously wearing his glasses and his regular clothes and the mask and costume and not wearing them underneath. He had the same feeling with the transformation masks. "What're you gonna do?" Link asked Ed.

"Oh, right," Ed frowned. "Forgot about my alchemy. I was gonna make a hood or something. I mean, I guess I could use a circle, but that'd take too long and I haven't… honestly, I don't think I've ever used a circle before."

"I have these," Link said, offering up the Keaton Mask and the Breton Mask. He didn't have anything else and it wasn't like he had a use for either of them anymore.

"I guess that'll have to work for now," Ed sighed, grabbing the Keaton Mask.

"You'll look like Pikachu," Link smirked.

Ed sighed, "Better than looking like a chicken."

"I don't approve of this," Gordon said. "But there's not a lot I can do about it." It was hard for him to admit his powerlessness, especially in front of his children. "Please, just… stay safe."

Ed looked down at the mask in his hand and gripped it a little tighter. "I won't let anything hurt Link. Not again."

"Ed, I can watch your back, too," Link insisted.

"Yeah," Ed agreed, half heartedly. "See ya later, old man," Ed smirked, putting the mask over his face and pulling his hood up. He and Link ran down the street, headed for danger. Gordon couldn't shake the sickening feeling that he wasn't going to see them again. He tried to brush is off as fatherly worrying, but he was a father. He couldn't help but worry about them.

* * *

It was hard, but somehow they slipped the barricades blocking the general populace from the negotiators. The first person they saw, however, an MiB type, tried to block their way. Ed did his best to calmly explain the situation, but he degraded to shouting pretty fast. Then Batman appeared out of thin air, directly behind the MiB, and scared him shitless.

"You're them," Batman said. His very voice sent shivers down Link's spine.

"I have a plan," Ed said, unflinching in his determination.

Batman looked into their very souls. Link wasn't sure how Batman could glare from behind a mask, but the effect was chilling.

"Follow me," Batman said. The MiB didn't object, though he looked like he wanted to.

Ed followed Batman and Link followed his big brother. The rest of the League and the FBI and the CIA and the international security were arguing about a plan of action. All Batman had to do to catch their attention was stand near them. And like that, all eyes were on them. Link felt small and Ganondorf felt large.

"Don't suppose you have code names?" a woman in a blue suit said, crossing her arms are looking them up an down.

"Uh, this was kinda spur of the moment," Ed fidgeted. "We didn't have time to think of anything like that." He supposed he could say Fullmetal Alchemist, but that wasn't who he was, so he didn't.

"They have a plan," Batman said.

"Well, let's hear it then," the woman said, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"I distract him from the front," Ed explained, crossing his one arm across his chest and glaring at the woman with all the rebellious intent he had in him. "I pretend to give myself up, and he," Ed nodded to Link, "sneaks in from the back."

"That's your plan‽" Link hissed under his breath. "That's a terrible plan."

"Trust me, kid," Ed said. "It'll work."

"But…"

"Please, kid, just trust me," Ed snapped.

Link looked up at Ed. Ed believed in his plan and Link did believe in Ed. It was just hard to let go of his overwhelming fear of Ganondorf. "Fine," Link gave in.

"That's your plan?" The woman asked when it was clear their little argument was over. "Sneak in from behind? That barrier is just as impenetrable as the Towers this man supposedly summoned."

"Yeah, and he," he gestured to Link, "can walk right through it like its not even there!" Ed snapped back. "How do you think we took out the Tower in Canada?"

"Fair enough," the woman yielded.

"Cool," Ed shifted. "Someone should take him around back to get into position. Preferably someone who can fly."

"Why?"

"So he gets there faster," Ed didn't miss a beat.

"I'll go," Superman of all people volunteered. Link felt even smaller.

"Why can't we both sneak in from behind?" Link asked, tugging on Ed's coat.

"Because one of us has to make a distraction and you're the one who can get through the barriers, not me." Ed explained. "Don't worry about it, little brother. You'll kick ass, I promise."

"But what about you?"

"All I have to do is distract him so you can go in from behind."

"And do what?" Link snapped. "I might be able to get through the barrier, but I don't have anything on him face to face."

"You don't have to face him. You just have to get the hostages out. He'll be up here, dealing with me. You won't be in any danger."

"But you will be!"

"We'll all be out here, backing him up." The woman said. "Just get him out in the open and we can take care of the rest."

"You should get into position," Ed said.

"But I don't want to leave you," Link whimpered.

"I know, kid," Ed ruffled his hair. "This'll work. I promise."

"Come on," Superman said. "I'll carry you around the building."

Link reluctantly went with him. Superman flew them around to the other side of the building. Link fidgeted nervously. He didn't feel worthy to be standing next to Superman. He couldn't look up from the ground. He really wished Ed had told him about his plan before hand; he hated not knowing.

"Are you nervous?" Superman asked Link.

Link shook his head, but he couldn't stop fidgeting.

"It's alright to be nervous," Superman said. "Even I get nervous sometimes."

"But you're Superman," Link said.

Superman laughed, "I know."

"I'm really scared I'm gonna mess this up," Link admitted. "What if I'm not good enough and someone gets hurt because of me?"

"As long as you stand up for what's right and do your best, then even if this doesn't work and people do get hurt, it won't be your fault. You'll still be a hero. And if it helps, I believe in you."

"!" Link's face turned red. "Why?"

"Because even though you're scared, even though you're facing someone evil and powerful, you're here. You're not hiding somewhere safe, even though you have every right to. You heard the call and you answered it."

"Oh," Link said.

Suddenly, Superman stood straight upright and looked back in the direction of where Ed and everyone was.

"What?" Link asked, immediately concerned. "What's wrong. Did something happen?"

Superman made a face and grimaced, but he steeled himself. "There's been… a change in plans. We have to… we have a different entry point. Come on, I'll take you there."

Something was wrong, Link thought. "Something's wrong," Link said.

Superman picked Link up and started to fly away from the UN building, over the ocean.

"What're you doing‽" Link cried. "Where are we going?"

Superman didn't answer.

Link couldn't even see the New York skyline anymore. "Stop! Stop! My brother's back there! He can't do this without me! You have to take me back!"

Superman didn't stop.

"Please, my big brother," Link struggled. It was no use. Superman was too strong. "Stop, please, my big brother."

As soon as Link was out of sight around the other side of the shielded building, Ed's shoulders slumped.

"Okay, real plan," Ed said quickly. "Superman is going to bring my brother to the Tower in Australia while I surrender in hopes that he'll let the hostages go."

"What?" The woman snarled.

"The fake plan would never work and he'd never agree to this one. It's best he doesn't know until he's half way across the Atlantic. All I care about is my little brother's safety."

"Well, all I care about is the lives of the hostages in that building!" The woman snapped.

"Okay, yes, that too, but… I mean that… as long as he's safe, we have a chance of stopping Ganondorf."

"You're telling me he's indestructible‽ Because now I'm being fed two stories and neither of them are from my people."

"When we knock down a Tower, Ganondorf grows weaker. We'll stand a better chance at taking him down with both his Towers destroyed. My brother won't want to leave me to fight Ganondorf alone, so we have to trick him. He's got a better chance if Ganondorf's distracted dealing with me. Everyone does."

"Fine, we'll go with your plan," the woman finally said. She turned to one of the MiB standing next to her, "Take him to the negotiators to get briefed on the protocols. Batman, I'm assuming you're going to update Superman."

"He's aware of the plan," Batman grunted. "They're on their way."

Ed knew this would hurt Link. He knew his little brother was scared and angry. He swore to himself, this was the last time he'd ever do anything that hurt Link.

* * *

 _Thank you for your time. Please favorite, follow, and review._


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